An AIEE Active Anthracene-Based Nanoprobe for Zn2+ and Tyrosine Detection Validated by Bioimaging Studies

Novel anthracene-based Schiff base derivative (4-(anthracen-9-ylmethylene) amino)-5-phenyl-4H-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol; AT2) is synthesized and utilized as an aggregation-induced emission-enhancement (AIEE) active probe to detect Zn2+ Tyrosine. Ultraviolet-visible absorption/photoluminescence (UV-vis/PL) spectroscopy studies on the AIEE property of AT2 (in ethanol) with increasing water fractions (fw: 0–97.5%) confirm J-type aggregation. Excellent sensor selectivity its reversibility Tyrosine are demonstrated PL interrogations. 2:1 1:1 stoichiometry binding sites AT2-Zn2+ Tyrosine-Zn2+ complexes elucidated from Job plots, HR-mass, 1H-NMR results. Nanomolar-level detection limits (LODs) (179 nM) (667 association constants (Kas) 2.28 × 10?6 M?2 (for AT2-Zn2+) 1.39 10?7 M?1 Tyrosine-Zn2+) determined standard deviation linear fittings. Nanofiber formation in aggregated/dispersed nanoparticles presence Zn2+/Tyrosine supported by scanning-electron microscope (SEM), transmission-electron (TEM), atomic-force (AFM), dynamic-light scattering (DLS) investigations. Density-functional theory (DFT) “On-Off” twisted intramolecular charge transfer/photo-induced electron transfer (TICT/PET) “On-Off-On” PET mechanisms for sensors, respectively. B16-F10 cellular zebrafish imaging conducted support applications sensors.