Thiol-ene Click Post-Polymerization Modification of a Fluorescent Conjugated Polymer for Parts-Per-Billion Pyrophosphate Detection in Seawater

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-1-2019

Department

Polymers and High Performance Materials

Abstract

The evolution of conjugated polyelectrolytes (CPEs) that transduce analyte-receptor interactions into detectable fluorescent responses in complex aqueous environments is predicated on advancements in molecular design and improved synthetic accessibility. Here, we demonstrate a simple post-polymerization modification protocol based on thiol-ene click chemistry that results in the rapid installation of sodium sulfate terminated side chains to a poly(fluorene-co-ethynyl) scaffold. The fluorescence of the resulting water-soluble CPE is quenched by Fe3+, dequenched selectively by pyrophosphate (PPi), and accurately quantifies PPi within ±6 nM in artificial seawater. The broad utility of thiol-ene click chemistry should offer the straightforward integration of diverse sensing elements.

Publication Title

ACS: Applied Polymer Materials

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