Fluorescent properties of substituted 1,4-dimethylbenzenes

CHED 576

Lauren Cartmill, lncartmill@ole.augie.edu, Department of Chemistry, Augustana College, Box 291 2001 S Summit Ave, Sioux Falls, SD 57197 and Grigoriy Sereda, gsereda@usd.edu, Department of Chemistry, University of South Dakota, 414 E. Clark St., Vermillion, SD 57069.
The research was aimed at the synthesis of a series of 2-(4-substituted-benzyl)-1,4-dimethylbenzenes and exploring them as fluorescent sensors for TNT detection. The effect of the remote substituent and the analyte – sensor ratio on sensitivity of these compounds toward DNT, which was used as a model of TNT, was studied. We found that all compounds in the series significantly decrease their fluorescence due to formation of a 1:1 complex with DNT. The CH3-derivative was the most sensitive compound toward DNT in the whole series. We also found that the detection limit for these compounds was .024M.