Facile synthesis of an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) active imidazoles for sensitive detection of trifluralin

A novel imidazoles fluorescent probe (2) was synthesized from vanillin, o-phenylenediamine, and N,N-diphenylcarbamyl chloride. Its structure was characterized by fluorescence spectra, UV-Vis spectra, H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR, and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). Moreover, its aggregation-induced emission (AIE) feature was investigated in THF/MeOH solution. Furthermore, the fluorescence quenching experimental results suggest that compound 2 is the potential fluorescent probe of small organic molecules showing high selectivity and sensitivity for nitroaromatic compounds. In addition, the probe could be applied in the determination of trifluralin with fast response and stability. The fluorescence response of the probe exhibited a good linear correlation with the concentration of trifluralin ranging from 10 to 100 mu M, and the limit of detection (LOD) was as low as 5.066 mu M. Finally, the probe was successfully utilized to determine the amount of trifluralin in real samples, and the recoveries were 91.1% to 111.2%, indicating the applicability and reliability of the probe. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A novel imidazoles fluorescent probe (2) showed high selectivity and sensitivity for nitroaromatic compounds, making it a potential fluorescent probe for accurately detecting trifluralin in real samples.