Synthesis of anthracene-based macrocycle for detection of explosives

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi, Kimya Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2019

Öğrenci: TUĞÇE YILMAZ

Danışman: SALİH ÖZÇUBUKÇU

Özet:

Development of fluorescent sensors for detection of explosives become very interesting area for researchers. Picric acid is an important member of nitro-aromatic compounds which is also a powerful explosive. Fluorescent sensors are one of the essential way to detect picric acid, since they have many advantages, such as high sensitivity, simple instrumentation, and quick response. Cyclophanes are molecules that their cyclic structure makes them very promising candidate for molecular recognition. Anthracene-based cyclophanes exhibit strong fluorescence quenching with the interaction of electron deficient molecules. In this thesis, anthracene-based macrocycle was synthesized and its sensor ability was tested for picric acid determination. It was found that anthracene-based macrocycle is quite selective for picric acid and 2,4-DNP. Stern-Volmer quenching constants were found to be 5.28x104 M-1 for picric acid and 5.61x104 M-1 for 2,4-DNP. Detection limits were calculated and found to be 0.39 µM for PA and 0.25 µM for 2,4-DNP. The comparison of quenching constant, detection limit, and media used for picric acid detection with some recent reports in the literature were studied.