Electrosynthesis of oligo(methoxyl pyrene) for turn-on fluorescence detection of volatile aromatic compounds

Abstract

A highly fluorescent conjugated oligomer, oligo(1-methoxyl pyrene) (OMOPr), was synthesized via electrochemical polymerization and its structure was studied by UV-vis spectroscopy, MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy and ab initio calculation. The organic solutions of OMOPr emit strong blue lights and show solvatochromic effect, while these fluorescence emissions are quenched upon chain aggregation in its dry films. On the basis of these phenomena, a turn-on fluorescence sensor was fabricated and it can be used for detecting volatile aromatic compounds (VACs).