Unprecedented green-emissive boranyl-hydrazone supramolecular assemblies and their in vitro diagnostic applications

This paper describes a novel symmetric N,N′-diethylsalicylaldehyde boranyl hydrazone (1) and its in situ-generated assemblies displaying opto-analytical capabilities for the diagnosis of nucleic acids under physiological conditions. The sensing capabilities of these unprecedented supramolecular assemblies were characterized using UV–Vis spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and zeta potential measurements. Model compounds lacking boranyl units (2, 3) were prepared to correlate and evaluate the sensing mechanism. The rationally designed probe 1 displays unusual aggregation-induced emissive (AIE) properties, with an average particle size of 1096 nm exhibiting green emission upon excitation at 377 nm in pH-7.2 TRIZMA buffer. A selective switch on response toward organic PO4 3− accompanied through specific nano-aggregations patterns and sizes, thereby causing a significant red-shift through AIE. Exploiting such switch on in green channel behavior has allowed the monitoring of DNase I activities and polymerase chain reactions.