Our ongoing research focuses on the design of a general platform for fluorescent chemosensing based on surface-immobilized monolayers of highly organized oligo(p-phenylene ethynylene)s.  Such monolayers are characterized by efficient long-range intermolecular exciton migration.  Ratiometric fluorescent sensory devices made by end capping a conjugated oligomer with a lower energy gap receptor benefit from this phenomenon by exhibiting analytical signal amplification.  By using inactive spacer molecules, we can control the spatial separation between the active molecules in the monolayer, which enables modulation of the efficiency of intermolecular energy transport.   This can provide a simple and effective means to control both device sensitivity and range of analytical response.  As an example to illustrate this concept, we will describe in this presentation a fluoride sensor we developed using this general approach.

Fluorescent chemosensors based on surface-immobilized conjugated oligomers: Tuning sensory performance

244th National Meeting (2012)

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