Aggregation-Induced Emission Active Metal-Free Chemosensing Platform for Highly Selective Turn-On Sensing and Bioimaging of Pyrophosphate Anion.

We report the synthesis of a metal-free chemosensor for highly selective sensing of pyrophosphate (PPi) anion in physiological medium. The novel phenylbenzimidazole functionalized imine containing chemosensor (L; [2,6-bis(((4-(1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)phenyl)imino) methyl)-4 methyl phenol]) could sense PPi anion through "turn-on" colorimetric and fluorimetric responses in a very competitive environment. The overall sensing mechanism is based on the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) phenomenon. Moreover, a real time in-field device application was demonstrated by sensing PPi in paper strips coated with L. Interestingly, detection of intracellular PPi ions in model human cells could also be possible by fluorescence microscopic studies without any toxicity to these cells.