Furan-Dihydroquinazolinone Based Fluorescent Nanoprobe for Selective Recognition of 4-Nitrophenol: A Spectofluorimetric Approach

Fluorescent organic nanoparticles (FONPs) have attracted much attention as a practicable and effective platform for detection applications. The present article describes the preparation of FONPs derived from the quinazolinone-based 2-(furan-2-yl)-2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-one derivative FHDQ. Self-assembly of FHDQ in an aqueous medium resulted in the formation of FONPs through H-type aggregation and showed excellent fluorescence properties. The presence of other coexisting species solutions did not affect the selective fluorescence quenching observed with the addition of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). The photophysical properties, i.e., UV-Vis absorbance, fluorescence emission, and lifetime measurements together with zeta particle sizer, support excited-state complex formation followed by a dynamic fluorescence quenching phenomenon in the emission of FDHQNPs. In the concentration range of 0 to 36 μg. $${\mathrm{mL}}^{-1}$$ , the detection limit of this turn-off sensor FDHQNPs against 4-NP was determined to be 0.01611 μM. Finally, the practicability of the FDHQNPs for the analysis of 4-NP in environmental samples was demonstrated.