Self-Assembly of Amphiphilic Perylene-Cyclodextrin Conjugate and Vapor Sensing for Organic Amines

An asymmetric, amphiphilic perylene bisimide derivative 1 was synthesized by grafting permethyl-beta-cyclodextrin at one side and an octadecyl chain at the other side. Its aggregation capability and morphology, which attract intense interest, were carefully examined by combination of UV-vis, NMR, and fluorescence spectroscopy, DLS, XRD, TEM, and SEM. By adjusting the volume ratio of water and methanol, we are able to control the morphology, benefiting from the amphiphilicity of 1. Furthermore, the particular resulting aggregates were employed as solid-state fluorescence sensing for organic amines. An improvement or both selectivity and sensitivity is achieved compared to previous publications.