A one-pot fluorogenic cascade cyclization reaction via BF3-sensing.

(E)-3-Phenyl-1-(2-(phenylethynyl) phenyl) prop-2-en-1-one is shown as a chemodosimetric sensor where it selectively senses toxic BF3, scrutinized through electronic spectral analysis and recognized with the naked eye. The probable binding mechanism is proposed based on the electronic spectral analysis, NMR titration and the ESI-MS technique. The incredible increase in fluorescence intensity (60-fold) in less than 2 minutes along with an extremely low detection limit (6.36 × 10-10 M) in a range of 0-50 μl make it function as a proficient gas phase BF3 sensor with synchronized detection in a portable form.