A novel coumarin-derived acylhydrazone Schiff base gelator for synthesis of organogels and identification of Fe3

A novel coumarin-derived acylhydrazone Schiff base fluorescent organogel (G1) was designed and synthesized. Gelator G1 can form stable organogels in isopropanol, tert-amyl alcohol, n-butanol and phenylamine. The organogel could be converted to solution by heating and the solution could be restored to gel state by cooling. The self-assemble mechanism of G1 was investigated by XRD, FT-IR and SEM techniques. The results indicated the intermolecular hydrogen bonding, Van der Waals interaction and π-π stacking are the forces for the self-assembly of the gelator to form the organogel. The optical properties of the compound were studied by UV–visible spectroscopy and fluorescence spectra. Further study presented that gelator G1 could selectively and sensitively response to Fe3+ only among tested cations. Beside the above functions, the organic gel factor G1 could also response to irradiation, heating and shaking, thus endowing the organogel with multi stimulus responsive properties. [Display omitted] •A novel coumarin-derived hydrazide Schiff based fluorescent organogel was synthesized.•The gelator G1 can form stable organogels in isopropanol, tert-amyl alcohol, n-butanol and phenylamine.•The G1 can response to heating, irradiation and shaking.•The gel factor could selectively and sensitively respond to Fe3+ only among common metal cations.