Advancement in fluorescent chemosensor for discriminative and precise detection of picric acid (PA) in aqueous medium is highly desirable owing to its alarming impact on the natural environment via soil and groundwater pollution. We have successfully synthesized a quinoxaline-based receptor (Probe 1) to detect PA in 100% aqueous medium. Probe 1 self-assembled to form leaf-like structures in pure water as micro aggregates (~ 940 nm) and transformed entirely into smaller spherical shape (~ 354 nm) upon addition of PA. The self-assembled probe exhibited excellent selectivity towards PA (Ksv of 22.6 × 106 M-1) with a ~ 56 ppb detection limit . Importantly, PA detection on solution-coated paper strips was achieved at the picogram level. Furthermore, to evaluate the practical usefulness, the probe has been used to detect PA in natural water samples and soil specimens. Interestingly, Probe 1 was non-toxic to cultured HeLa cells and rendered detection of intracellular picric acid through live cell imaging.

Self-assembled quinoxaline derivative: Disaggregation induced selective chemosensing of nitro-aromatics in aqueous medium

ACS Spring 2022

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