Progress in Design, Synthesis and Application of Triphenylamine-Based Fluorescent Probes

The triphenylamine fluorophore with propeller-structure can be used not only as a strong electron donor, but also as a potential aggregation-induced emission (AIE) framework.At the same time, triphenylamine derivatives with different substituted groups (e.g.formyl, amino, halogen, boronic acid group, alkynyl) can easily be modified for further functionalization by simple reactions, such as condensation and metal coupling reaction.Thus, the functional triphenylamine derivatives are widely applied in the molecular design of solar cells, fluorescent dyes, solid-state luminescent materials and fluorescent probes.According to the detected analytes, such as cations, anions, and neutral small molecules, the triphenylamine-based fluorescent probes reported in the past five years are divided into three types.And on the viewpoint of their structures and performances, the new progress on the molecular design, synthesis and detecting application is reviewed.The developing potential of triphenylamine-based fluorescent probes is also envisioned, and the AIE-type probes with the properties of near-infrared and high photoluminescence quantum yield should be highlighted in the future.