Anthracene-based fluorescent conjugated porous polymers for highly sensitive detection of 2,6-dichloro-4-nitroaniline pesticide in a water environment

Designing fluorescent probes to achieve sensitive and rapid detection of pesticide 2,6-dichloro-4-nitroaniline (DCNA) in a water environment is highly appealing. Here, anthracene-based fluorescent conjugated porous polymers (ACPP) with a partially π-extension wall have been synthesized via a Suzuki coupling reaction for sensitive and rapid detection of DCNA pesticide. The unique pore structure extending anthracene unit into the pore not only improve the host-guest interaction of the polymer and analytes, but also increase the possibility of photoinduced electron transfer (PET) by shortening the electron hopping distance, thus improving the fluorescence detection performance. Benefiting from the synergistic effects of competitive energy absorption, PET and host-guest interaction, the ACPP can be used to detect DCNA pesticide with fast response (<2 s) and high quenching constant (Ksv = 3.8 × 105 M−1). The ACPP-based portable test strips and sol-gel sensors were successfully applied to the portable detection of DCNA in real food samples.