A turn-on fluorescent probe for cyanide based on aggregation of terthienyl and its application for bioimaging

Abstract A turn-on fluorescent probe based on terthienyl for CN − has been constructed and CN − was detected by taking advantage of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) behavior of terthienyl units in aqueous solutions. The probe displayed a high selectivity and sensitivity for CN − against other analytes, and the detection limit was measured to be 0.1 μM. The aggregation behavior confirmed by DLS and SEM caused fluorescence enhancement in the sensing environment. A simple paper test strip system for the rapid monitoring of CN − was developed. Moreover, the probe could be employed to detect CN − in biological samples.