In recent years, supramolecular organization of thiophene derivatives, oligo- and polythiophene, have been developed with various designs to achieve complex functions. Here,we describe the synthesis and characterization of a conjugated polymer with thymidine side chain bases and polythiophene backbones (PTT) instead of phosphate bonds in DNA, and the PTT exhibits exceptionalfluorescence quenching efficiency upon binding of Cu2+ ions in aqueous medium, which is suggested to be electron transfer from theπ*orbit at the excited state of PTT to the 3d orbit of Cu2+ ions and subsequent Cu2+-mediated interpolymerπ-stacking aggregation. Furthermore, Cu2+ ions can be selectively and easily monitored by the fluorescence quenching of PTT, which can be used for detection of Cu2+ ions with good selectivity and high sensitivity in aqueous medium. Both experimental and theoretical methods have been devoted to demonstrate the strong affinity and steric interaction of PTT toward Cu2+. These findings will illustrate new directions for the design of nucleobase functionalized materials with transition metals responsive activity.

Nucleobase-functionalized conjugated polymer for detection of copper(II)

249th National Meeting (2015)

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