Toward ratiometric fluorescent chemosensors based on attenuated energy transfer: Design and studies

ORGN 361

Jiba Raj Acharya, jachar1@lsu.edu, Huating Zhang, hzhang7@lsu.edu, Xian Li, and Evgueni E. Nesterov, een@lsu.edu. Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Conjugated polymers/oligomers form the foundation of new methods for the trace detection of analytes in a variety of environments. Electronic coupling between optoelectronic segments and efficient intra- and inter-chain energy transfer is possible due to their delocalized electronic structure. Important properties, such as charge transport, emission intensity and efficiency of exciton migration can simply be attenuated by external stimuli, leading to considerable changes in observable signals. Herein we report the synthesis and study of specially designed g-conjugated oligo(p-phenylene-ethynylene)s for application in ratiometric fluorescent sensors. The sensor compound consists of a low band gap sensing unit at the one end and a linkage at the other end to form a monolayer on a glass surface. Binding of an analyte at the receptor site results in the change of energy gap leading to an observable florescence change due to attenuated energy transfer. In this presentation we report our progress towards synthesis and studies of these materials.