Functionalized oxacalix[4]arene based fluorescent probes for the detection of organophosphorus nerve agent simulants

Despite the largely tranquil environment in which humans live, a chemical terrorism attack is still a public safety problem, for which the capacity to quickly and accurately detect chemical warfare agents (CWAs) constitute a significant barrier. In this study, a straightforward fluorescent probe based on dinitrophenylhydrazine has been synthesised. It exhibits great selectivity and sensitivity for the nerve agent mimicking dimethyl chlorophosphate (DMCP) in the MeOH solution. Dinitrophenylhydrazine-oxacalix[4]arene (DPHOC), a 2,4-dinitrophenylhydra-zine (2,4-DNPH) derivative, was synthesised and characterized with NMR and ESI-MS. Photophysical behavior, specially spectrofluorometric analysis was introduced to investigate the sensing phenomena of DPHOC toward dimethyl chlorophosphate (DMCP). The LOD of DPHOC toward DMCP was determined to be 2.1 & mu;M, with a linear range from 5 to 50 & mu;M (R2 = 0.99933). Moreover, DPHOC has been proven to be a promising probe toward the real time detection of DMCP.