Bis-biphenylacrylonitrile bridged with crown ether chain: a novel fluorescence sensor for Fe3+in aqueous media

The design and synthesis of novel fluorescence sensors for Fe(3+)in aqueous media have important prospects for practical applications. In this work, the novel bis-biphenylacrylonitrile bridged with crown ether chains3a-3cwere prepared in yields of 73-80%. Compounds3a-3cexhibited high fluorescence in aqueous media based on the AIE effect. The sensing abilities for a series of metal ions suggested that the compound3bpossessed the selective detection for Fe(3+)in aqueous media with strong fluorescence quenching. The detection limit of compound3bfor Fe(3+)was 1.67 x 10(-7)M and the sensing mechanism was proposed with the assistance of(1)H NMR and MS studies. Compound3bdisplayed excellent fluorescence imaging properties with a sensing ability for Fe(3+)in living cell systems, indicating the good application prospect for sensing Fe(3+)in aqueous media and complex environments.