Acridine derivative as a “turn on” probe for selective detection of picric acid via PET deterrence

Abstract

A new photoinduced electron transfer (PET) based fluorescent chemosensor for the detection of nitroaromatic compounds (NACs) is reported. The probe ACR-1 exhibited high selectivity and sensitivity for the detection of picric acid (PA) over trivial explosive (NACs) in CH₃OH. The binding association constant (K_a) of ACR-1 with PA was obtained to be 1.5 × 10⁴ M⁻¹ in CH₃OH with a limit of detection (LOD) up to 2.4 × 10⁻⁶ M as a consequence of turn on sensing.