Solvatochromism study of donor–acceptor blue fluorophore and its application in cation and oxidant sensing

Abstract

Solvatochromism is a property of many different compounds in which color change is a consequence of solvent polarity. Strong blue fluorescent aminofuran was synthesized from the three-component reaction. It was found that the product is highly fluorescent and shows solvatochromic shift between 280 and 380 nm in solvents ranging from water to hexane. Solvent effects on the location of the absorption and fluorescence bands were investigated. In this compound, the presence of electron donor–acceptor groups, here amine or carbonyl groups, in its push–pull scaffold affects the potential chemical reactivity within the chemical environments undergoing color change in the presence of metal cations such as copper, mercury, ruthenium, iron and gold as colorimetric sensor. Displaying color change is probably due to the coordination of the amine group to the metal ions. Also, it is sensitive probe for detection of a number of oxidants.