Nitro substituted chalcone derivatives as quick-response chemosensors for cyanide anions

Three nitro substituted chalcone derivatives with diethylamino(1), carbazolyl(2) and pyrene(3) as terminal group have been synthesized via typical condensation reaction of 2-hydroxy-4-nitro-acetophenone with related aryl-aldehydes in good yields. Their crystal structure and recognition properties for cyanide anions have been investigated. The results indicated that all the compounds exhibit quickly obvious UV-vis absorption and fluorescence response to cyanide anions in aqueous solution. Especially, compound 1 with diethylamino as terminal group exhibits obvious fluorescence change from orange to green with fluorescence turn-on response upon the addition cyanide anions.(C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.