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Design, synthesis and application of tetraphenylethene substituted chalcones as pH and Et3N indicators

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Abstract

With outstanding AIE effect, TPE-substituted chalcone derivatives were widely used in the field of mechanochromic luminescent materials, chemical sensors, biosensing, etc. However, TPE-substituted chalcones which could function as pH indicator have not yet been reported until now. In this paper, three novel TPE-substituted chalcones were designed and synthesized as pH indicator for the first time. These TPE-substituted chalcones exhibited sensitive pH-chromic properties with continuous end points (pH = 9.77, 10.98 and 11.51 respectively). These pH indicators can be employed in fabrication of pH strips with higher accuracy compared to universal pH strips. Detection of Et3N can also be realized by these TPE-substituted chalcones with advantages in low cost, high sensitivity, easy-handle and real-time.

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Abbreviations

AIE:

Aggregation induced luminescence

TPE:

Tetraphenylethylene

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  1. Jing Zhang and Xudong Wu have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Physical Science and Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, 10004, China

    Jing Zhang, Xudong Wu & Zhi Li

  2. School of Laboratory Medicine, Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, 533000, China

    Zhiyong Xing

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  1. Jing Zhang
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  2. Xudong Wu
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Zhang, J., Wu, X., Xing, Z. et al. Design, synthesis and application of tetraphenylethene substituted chalcones as pH and Et3N indicators. Chem. Pap. 77, 4473–4487 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11696-023-02799-z

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