Enhancing water sensing via aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and solvatofluorochromic studies using two new dansyl derivatives containing a disulfide bound: Pollutant metal ions detection and preparation of water-soluble fluorescent polymeric particles

Polarity-sensitive dansyl derivatives L1 and L2 were synthesized and their ability to sense pollutant metal ions was investigated. All compounds were found to be highly sensitive towards Cu2+ and Hg2+ metal ions, while L2 being able to detect and quantify Hg2+ concentrations as low as 2.5 & mu;M. Both L1 and L2 exhibit positive sol-vatofluorochromic behaviour, modulated in the presence of water, which in turn results in fluorescence enhancement via aggregation-induced emission (AIE). Seeking stability and water solubility, luminescent L1 -based polystyrene-block-polybutadiene-block-polystyrene (SBS) microparticles (size: 520 & PLUSMN; 76 nm) were suc-cessfully prepared while maintaining the fluorescence emission of fluorophore L1 (& phi; = 22%). This work ex-emplifies the multiple properties of dansyl-derivatives and their promising applications in biomedicine and environmental fields.