Fluorescent Sensing of a Nerve Agent Simulant with Dual Emission over Wide pH Range in Aqueous Solution

5 years ago

Fluorescent Sensing of a Nerve Agent Simulant with Dual Emission over Wide pH Range in Aqueous Solution

David G. Churchill, Thuy-Tien T. Nguyen, Yoon Jeong Jang, Youngsam Kim, Sandip V. Mulay

A new 1,8-naphthalimide-based fluorescent probe for the detection of diethyl cyanophosphonate, a very common nerve agent simulant, is designed, synthesized, and characterized fully. The probe shows around 50-fold enhancement of fluorescence intensity over other nerve agent simulants. Importantly, the probe is able to work under aqueous conditions in a wide pH range. Two reactive groups, the oxime and the phenol, allow a dual emission with different kinetic reactions. The reaction of diethyl cyanophosphonate with the oxime group occurs in advance; the resulting time response of the fluorescence enhancement is observed within approximately 30 s. After the oxime reaction, then phenol also undergoes a substitution reaction with diethyl cyanophosphonate, resulting in a blue emission. The real application of this new probe is demonstrated through the use of silica plate assays for the detection of diethyl cyanophosphonate in both gas and liquid phases through dual emission channels. Detecting nerve agents: A new 1,8-naphthalimide-based fluorescent probe (Oxinap) is developed for the selective detection of DECP, a nerve agent simulant, over other competing nerve agent simulants, with dual emission over a wide pH range in aqueous solution (see figure). The potential application of Oxinap is demonstrated through the detection of DECP in the gas phase as well as the liquid phase.

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1002/chem.201700975