TY - JOUR A1 - Merz, Viktor A1 - Merz, Julia A1 - Kirchner, Maximilian A1 - Lenhart, Julian A1 - Marder, Todd B. A1 - Krueger, Anke T1 - Pyrene-Based "Turn-Off" Probe with Broad Detection Range for Cu\(^{2+}\), Pb\(^{2+}\) and Hg\(^{2+}\) Ions JF - Chemistry—A European Journal N2 - Detection of metals in different environments with high selectivity and specificity is one of the prerequisites of the fight against environmental pollution with these elements. Pyrenes are well suited for the fluorescence sensing in different media. The applied sensing principle typically relies on the formation of intra- and intermolecular excimers, which is however limiting the sensitivity range due to masking of e. g. quenching effects by the excimer emission. Herein we report a highly selective, structurally rigid chemical sensor based on the monomer fluorescence of pyrene moieties bearing triazole groups. This sensor can quantitatively detect Cu\(^{2+}\), Pb\(^{2+}\) and Hg\(^{2+}\) in organic solvents over a broad concentrations range, even in the presence of ubiquitous ions such as Na\(^{+}\), K\(^{+}\), Ca\(^{2+}\) and Mg\(^{2+}\). The strongly emissive sensor's fluorescence with a long lifetime of 165 ns is quenched by a 1 : 1 complex formation upon addition of metal ions in acetonitrile. Upon addition of a tenfold excess of the metal ion to the sensor, agglomerates with a diameter of about 3 nm are formed. Due to complex interactions in the system, conventional linear correlations are not observed for all concentrations. Therefore, a critical comparison between the conventional Job plot interpretation, the method of Benesi-Hildebrand, and a non-linear fit is presented. The reported system enables the specific and robust sensing of medically and environmentally relevant ions in the health-relevant nM range and could be used e. g. for the monitoring of the respective ions in waste streams. KW - probes KW - fluorescence spectroscopy KW - pyrene KW - heavy metals KW - luminescence Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-256803 VL - 27 IS - 31 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kole, Goutam Kumar A1 - Merz, Julia A1 - Amar, Anissa A1 - Fontaine, Bruno A1 - Boucekkine, Abdou A1 - Nitsch, Jörn A1 - Lorenzen, Sabine A1 - Friedrich, Alexandra A1 - Krummenacher, Ivo A1 - Košćak, Marta A1 - Braunschweig, Holger A1 - Piantanida, Ivo A1 - Halet, Jean-François A1 - Müller-Buschbaum, Klaus A1 - Marder, Todd B. T1 - 2- and 2,7-substituted para-N-methylpyridinium pyrenes: syntheses, molecular and electronic structures, photophysical, electrochemical, and spectroelectrochemical properties and binding to double-stranded (ds) DNA JF - Chemistry - A European Journal N2 - Two N-methylpyridinium compounds and analogous N-protonated salts of 2- and 2,7-substituted 4-pyridyl-pyrene compounds were synthesised and their crystal structures, photophysical properties both in solution and in the solid state, electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical properties were studied. Upon methylation or protonation, the emission maxima are significantly bathochromically shifted compared to the neutral compounds, although the absorption maxima remain almost unchanged. As a result, the cationic compounds show very large apparent Stokes shifts of up to 7200 cm\(^{-1}\). The N-methylpyridinium compounds have a single reduction at ca. −1.5 V vs. Fc/Fc\(^+\) in MeCN. While the reduction process was reversible for the 2,7-disubstituted compound, it was irreversible for the mono-substituted one. Experimental findings are complemented by DFT and TD-DFT calculations. Furthermore, the N-methylpyridinium compounds show strong interactions with calf thymus (ct)-DNA, presumably by intercalation, which paves the way for further applications of these multi-functional compounds as potential DNA-bioactive agents. KW - inorganic chemistry KW - viologens KW - chromophores KW - luminescent KW - pyrenes KW - pyridinium Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-256642 VL - 27 IS - 8 ER -