A solvatochromic AIE tetrahydro[5]helicene derivative as fluorescent probes for water in organic solvents and highly sensitive sensors for glyceryl monostearate

In this paper, a tetrahydro[5]helicene-based imide dye with thienyl group (THID) was studied on its solvatochromism and aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties by dissolved in various organic solvents. The linear relationship between Stokes shift and aprotic solvent polarity parameter was well fitted with Lippert-Mataga model. Furthermore, Stokes shift also were positively correlated with the normalized molar electronic transition energy, suggested that THID exceptionally depends on solvent polarity for twisted intramolecular charge transfer. In addition, THID demonstrated typical AIE features when adding large amounts of water into good solvent. Meanwhile, it can function as intensity and wavelength-based fluorescence sensor for detecting low-level water content in water soluble solvents, even the low of detection was 0.014 vol% in ACN. Therefore, a simple and highly selective fluorescence analysis for glyceryl monostearate has been established on basis of its AIE property.