Hydrophilic Fluorescent Probes for Fe3+ Ions Based on Nanoparticles of Twisting D-π-A Type Compound Derived from Benzylidenemalononitrile

In this work, the novel fluorescent probes for detecting Fe3+ ions based on nanoparticles (TA-DF-BDM/PSMA NPs) of fluorescence material with twisting D-pi-A configuration was designed and prepared, in which triphenylamine (TA), 9,9-dioctylfluorene (DF) and benzylidenemalononitrile (BDM) serve as electron donor (D) unit, pi conjugated unit, and electron acceptor (A) unit, respectively. TA-DF-BDM/PSMA NPs exhibit red-emission peak located at 610 nm in photoluminescence spectrum and larger stokes shifts (ca. 203 nm). And, TA-DF-BDM/PSMA NPs exhibit high selectivity for detecting Fe3+ ions in pure water with high sensitivity and low detection limit of 0.9833 mu mol/L. More importantly, TA-DF-BDM/PSMA NPs show such properties as good photophysical stability, reversibility, excellent biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity, which can be utilized in bioimaging investigations.