A Tetraphenylethene‐Based Aggregation‐Induced Emission Luminogen (AIEgen) With Mechanochromic Phenomena for Highly Selective Naked‐Eye Detection of Mno4− Directly in Aqueous Media

It is challenging to work on the detection of toxic anions and pollutants directly from aqueous media by using organic molecules. The ability to detect MnO4− selectively and sensitively is essential to improving human health and protecting the environment. As a result, a Tetraphenylethylene‐based chemosensor was successfully synthesized and fully characterized with modern spectroscopic techniques and applied as a new rapid naked‐eye detection for the MnO4− in a mixed aqueous media ACN: H2O (v/v=1/9) by significantly switching off an emission in a mixed aqueous media over another anion. Chemosensor has been thoroughly studied, which shows remarkable photophysical properties such as aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) and mechanochromic phenomena. The linear regression (R2) is ≈ 0.98 μgmL−1 and the LOD (the detection limit) as low as 0.150418 μgmL−1 is possible for MnO4−. This work demonstrates structure‐property and application relationships of TPEgen scaffolds and connects topics such as AIE, mechanochromic phenomenon, and naked‐eye fluorescence sensing. The current study‘s fundamental knowledge helps improvement in the fields of TPEgen, anion coordination triggered emission and naked eye fluorescence sensing. As a result, a chemosensor can be developed into a prospective luminescent sensor for detecting MnO4−, as well as onsite detection by using the paper‐based sensor. The luminogen is used to detect toxic anions in aqueous media, with the MnO4‐ anion being detected more selectively and sensitively than other anions. The luminogen shows remarkable photophysical phenomena such as aggregation‐induced emission and mechanochromic luminous characteristics.