Silylene‐Spaced Anthryl‐Calix[4]Pyrrole Derivative as a Fluorescent Probe for Sensing of Picric Acid

Abstract Heteroatoms play a crucial role in chemical science, imparting unique electronic, optical, and structural properties to organic materials, making them highly versatile for advanced applications. In this work, a silicon‐functionalized bona fide fluorescent sensor has been developed through hydrosilylation chemistry. Among several examined nitroaromatic compounds, the as‐synthesized fluorescent probe having silylenevinylene functions exhibits a turn‐off response towards picric acid (PA) in tetrahydrofuran solution as evidenced by fluorescence spectroscopic (quenching) studies. These studies suggest that photoinduced electron‐transfer (PET) takes place from the electron‐rich silylenevinylene‐conjugated anthracenes to electron deficient PA through supramolecular complexation (NH⋅⋅⋅⋅O hydrogen bonding), in conjunction with a significant Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). The Stern–Volmer quenching constant ( K SV ) is calculated to be 4.14 × 10 4 M −1 . The silylene‐spaced anthryl‐porphyrinogenic probe exhibits an admirable selectivity and sensitivity towards PA with a detection limit of 0.80 µM.