A Novel Zn^II-Sensitive Fluorescent Chemosensor Assembled within Aminopropyl-Functionalized Mesoporous SBA-15

Abstract

A novel Zn2+-sensitive fluorescent chemosensor SC/SBA-15 has been obtained by the self-assembly of 4-chloroaniline-N-salicylidene (SC), a Schiff base ligand, within the channel of silylation-modified SBA-15 without destroying its hexagonally ordered mesoporous structure. The remarkable 200-fold fluorescence enhancement with a large Stokes shift of 180 nm in luminescence emission upon the addition of Zn2+ is attributed to the formation of a coordinate complex of a large rigid conjugate system and Zn2+ ions.