Bifunctional probe for Cu2+/Al3+ based on a diarylethene with a 4, 5-[bis-(5-ethylacetate-yl)-2-thienyl]-1H-imidazole unit

A new asymmetric perfluordiarylethene (1O) was synthesized using 4, 5-bis-(5-ethylacetate-yl)-2-thienyl]-1H-imidazole as a functional group. 1O exhibited favorable reversible cyclization and cycloreversion reactions upon alternating irradiation with UV and visible light. Both of its open- and closed-ring isomers were found to be highly selective towards Cu²⁺ with significant absorption and color changes, which could be used as a ‘naked-eye’ colorimetric sensor for Cu²⁺ detection. Upon exposure to acid, its fluorescence dramatically enhanced by 14-fold with a color change from dark to bright cyan due to the formation of the protonated compound. Moreover, 1O showed obvious fluorescence “turn-on” signal response towards Al³⁺, and the detection limit for Al³⁺ was determined to be 4.8 × 10^?9 mol L^?1. Based on the fluorescence signals of 1O, a combinational stimuli logic circuit were designed by using the fluorescence intensity as the output signal with the inputs of lights, Al³⁺ and EDTA. Finally, 1O could be used as a biological probe for detecting intracellular Al³⁺ in a physiological environmental.