An Imidazo[1,5-α]Pyridine-Based Fluorometric Chemodosimeter for the Highly Selective Detection of Hypochlorite in Aqueous Media

A new fluorometric chemodosimeter 2-amino-3-(((E)-3-(1-phenylimidazo[1,5-α]pyridin-3-yl)benzylidene)amino)maleonitrile (BPI-MAL) has been designed and synthesized for sensing hypochlorite. BPI-MAL showed a selective turn-on fluorescence for ClO− through hypochlorite-promoted de-diaminomaleonitrile reaction. It also could detect ClO− in the presence of various competitive anions including reactive oxygen species. Interestingly, sensor BPI-MAL was successfully applied as a fluorescent test kit for ClO− determination. The sensing property and mechanism of BPI-MAL toward ClO− were studied by fluorescence and UV-vis spectroscopy, NMR titration and DFT calculations.