A multifunctional fluorescent probe for highly selective detection of hydrazine and discovering the interplay between AIE and ICT

A multifunctional luminescent material (BC–B) was synthesized, which exhibits aggregation-induced emission (AIE) enhancement property in high water fraction. The AIE shows a significant impact on the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) process by controlling intramolecular motion. The above result is demonstrated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. To decrease the influence of AIE on ICT, the probe BC-B is exploited as turn-on fluorescent probe for hydrazine (N2H4) in DMSO/PBS buffer (6/4, v/v) and displays high sensitivity and selectivity. Besides, the fluorescence emission shows a good linear response (R2 = 0.9960) in the range of 0–35 μM with the low detection limit of 1.29 ppb, which is significantly below the acceptable limit for hydrazine (10 ppb) set by the USEPA.