Abstract
Phenyl-4,4-di(3,6-dibutoxyphthalonitrile) (
) was synthesized by the reaction of 1,4-phenylenebisboronic acid (
) and 4-bromo-3,6-dibutoxyphthalonitrile (
), using Suzuki cross-coupling reaction. The newly synthesized compound (
) was characterized by FT-IR, MALDI-MS, ESI-MS,
H-NMR,
C-NMR, and
C-DEPT-135-NMR. The fluorescence property of phenyl-4,4-di(3,6-dibutoxyphthalonitrile) (
) towards various metal ions was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy, and it was observed thatthe compound (
) displayed a significantly 'turn-off' response to Fe
, which was referred to 1:2 complex formation between ligand (
) and Fe
. The compound was also studied via density functional theory calculations revealing the interaction mechanism of the molecule with Fe
ions.