A water-stable molecular cadmium phosphonate bearing 2-(2-pyridyl)benzimidazole as a highly sensitive luminescence sensor for the selective detection of bisphenol AF and bisphenol B

• Published in: CrystEngComm 2021-04, Vol.23 (15), p.2842-2853
• Main Authors: Wu, Jing-Yun, Hu, Zhi-Jia, Sung, Hui-Ling
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bisphenols; Cadmium; Chemical synthesis; Crystallography; Data analysis; Diffusion rate; Dopamine; Excitation spectra; Hydrogen bonds; Luminescence; Mesitylene; Phosphonates; Quenching; Response time; Thermal stability; Titration
• ISSN: 1466-8033; 1466-8033
• DOI: 10.1039/d0ce01740j

A dinuclear molecular cadmium phosphonate, [Cd 2 (H 4 tpmm) 2 (Hpybim) 2 (H 2 O) 4 ]·2H 2 O ( 1 ·2H 2 O), emitting strong luminescence in both solid-state and suspension phases was synthesized by the reaction of Cd(ClO 4 ) 2 , 2,4,6-tris(phosphorylmethyl)mesitylene (H 6 tpmm), and 2-(2-pyridyl)benzimidazole (Hpybim) via the slow diffusion of reactants. Complex 1 ·2H 2 O showed very poor solubility but high chemical stability in common organic solvents and H 2 O. Furthermore, 1 ·2H 2 O also revealed good thermal stability upon heating to 325 °C. Luminescence detection on a series of phenolic analytes within 5 min response time showed that bisphenol AF (BPAF) and bisphenol B (BPB) significantly reduced the luminescence intensity of 1 ·2H 2 O in water, with the quenching efficiencies of 77 and 71%, respectively, while bisphenol Z (BPZ) moderately quenched the luminescence of 1 ·2H 2 O in water by 52%. The Stern-Volmer quenching constant, K sv , and the limit of detection (LOD) were determined to be 1931 M −1 and 12.8 μM for BPAF, 515 M −1 and 14.6 μM for BPB, and 2269 M −1 and 3.0 μM for BPZ. In addition, 1 ·2H 2 O behaving as a luminescence sensor has an exclusive detection for BPAF, BPB, and BPZ over a wide range of interfering phenolic analytes, with the exception of dopamine toward BPB. This work demonstrates a highly water-stable molecular cadmium phosphonate suitable for the luminescence detection of bisphenols, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, especially BPAF and BPB, in water. A highly water-stable molecular cadmium phosphonate bearing 2-(2-pyridyl)benzimidazole has been used as a sensor platform for the luminescence detection of bisphenol AF (BPAF) and bisphenol B (BPB) in water with good sensitivity and selectivity.