Exploring the gelation and AIE properties of a tripodal acylhydrazone-based probe: turn-on Zn(II) sensing in HEPES buffer.

Two C 3 -symmetric acylhydrazone-based AIE active probes, TRI-QUI and TRI-NAP, were synthesized with different peripheral substituents. The probe containing a quinoline moiety in the periphery displayed a selective turn-on response towards Zn 2+ in HEPES buffer, with a calculated detection limit of 6.45 μM. The probe TRI-QUI was also identified as a supergelator as it formed a gel in DMSO-H 2 O (2 : 3, v/v) with a minimum gelation concentration of 0.5 mg mL -1 . The gelator could interact with various metal ions or anions in the gel phase. Furthermore, the gelator could encapsulate small molecules like methyl orange and bromophenol blue, making the probe a multifunctional smart material.