Instantaneous Detection of Trichlorinated Carbon via Photo-Induced Electron Transfer toward Chemosensor for Toxic Organochlorides.

Despite the usefulness of organochlorides as raw materials for organic synthesis, they cause several issues in the human body, such as hepatic dysfunction, tumor, and heavy damage to the central nervous system. Especially when organochlorides contain three or more chlorinated carbons, they tend to be more toxic to the human body possibly owing to relatively high reactivity. Several electron donors (TPCAs) are designed to devise a novel detection system for toxic organochlorides containing trichlorinated carbons, and the detection mechanism of the devised sensor system is systematically identified by EPR measurement and the analysis of the solution after the detection of chloroform, which is used as a model compound. Since the detection system simultaneously utilizes the radical-generation capability and the low LUMO level of the trichlorinated carbon, it provides high selectivity against most of the common organic compounds including other organochlorides containing mono- or dichlorinated carbons, and the outstanding selectivity of the designed sensor has been verified with Mirex composed of numerous chlorinated carbons. In addition, the detection system exhibits immediate sensing capability because only electron transfer and radical reaction are involved in the detection process. Finally, when diphosgene is detected with the devised sensing platform, a noticeable change in fluorescence intensities can be identified within 5 s even for a diphosgene concentration of less than 1 ppm.