Publication Date

2025

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Lei Li, Lawrence Hill, Matthew Nee

Degree Program

Department of Chemistry

Degree Type

Master of Science

Abstract

The highly efficient design and synthesis of organic fluorophores with an excellent quantum yield have received extensive attention. Compared with instrumental techniques, fluorescent sensors derived from organic small molecules offer many impressive benefits, such as selective detection, lower cost, and higher efficiency. Various detection mechanisms such as colorimetric, ratiometric, and fluorescence turn on/off have been reported for single analyte detection. Developing molecular probes that are capable of detecting two (or more than two) different analytes (cations, anions, and/or biomolecules) had emerged as a new research area and attracted considerable attention in the field of chemo- and biosensors.

Phenanthroimidazole represents a new class of novel organic molecules that features a plane structure, strong π-π interaction, and electron-donating properties. However, fluorescent sensors built on the electron-rich phenanthroimidazole paired with electron-deficient pyridine have not been extensively studied, especially their potential applications in detecting two (or more than two) different analytes. In this project, we designed two novel fluorescent sensors based on phenanthroimidazole and thiophene or pyridine to constitute an electron donor-only or donoracceptor alternate structure. With an efficient synthetic route, the two sensor molecules were obtained successfully with a modest to high yield (37%-60%). The NMR and FT-IR were utilized for molecular structure confirmation. The UV-vis absorption and fluorescent emission were carried out to investigate their photophysical properties and evaluate their potential applications as organic fluorescent sensors to detect certain ions.

Disciplines

Chemistry | Organic Chemistry | Physical Sciences and Mathematics

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