Differential metal-binding properties of dynamic acylhydrazone polymers and their sensing applications

• Main Authors: Siheng Gao, Lijie Li, Ismail Vohra, Daijun Zha, Lei You
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 2017-01-01
• Series: Royal Society Open Science
• Subjects: polyacylhydrazone; metal-binding properties; responsive polymers; sensing
• Online Access: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.170466

As one of common dynamic covalent bonds, acylhydrazone bond plays an important role in developing intelligent responsive materials. In this report, we present acylhydrazone-based dynamic polymers with multi-stimuli responsiveness, particularly metal recognition behaviours and their modulation. A series of polyacylhydrazones with different metal-binding sites were designed and prepared in a modular fashion. Titration of these receptors with a diverse set of metal ions, including Cu2+, Zn2+ and La3+, resulted in unique optical changes, and both the sensitivity and selectivity profiles can be regulated. Moreover, the metal-binding feature was facilely modulated by changing the solvent. The addition of weakly basic anions was employed to further fine-tune the responsiveness of the polymers by taking advantage of the cooperative effect with metal coordination. Finally, the sensitive detection of 6-mercaptopurine and pyrophosphate was achieved to demonstrate the application potential of these systems.