Luminescent Pyrene-Derivatives for Hg²⁺ and Explosive Detection

Abstract

Mercury and explosives are well-known hazards that affect the environment and threaten society. Mercury generally exists as inorganic mercuric (Hg2+) salts, and its detection via fluorometric response is highly notable. Likewise, mainstream explosives contains a nitro (−NO2) moiety as a functional unit, and numerous reports have quantified them using fluorescence quenching. Among the available literature, there are still noticeable concerns about the environmental and biological applicability of luminescent pyrene derivaives-tunedfluorometric detection of Hg2+ and explosives. In the presence of Hg2+ ions, pyrene derivatives tend to form excimers, which can be tuned to the chelation-enhanced fluorescence (CHEF), photo-induced electron transfer (PET), or fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), etc., to exhibit “Turn-On” or “Turn-Off” fluorescence responses. On the other hand, π-π stacking of emissive pyrene-derivatives may lead to J- or H-type aggregation via self-excimers (Py-Py*), which has been found to be quenched/enhanced by explosive hazards. In fact, −NO2-containing explosives interact with pyrene derivatives, leading to exceptional fluorescence quenching or enhancement. This review details the use of pyrene derivatives toward the sensing of Hg2+ and explosives with demonstrated applications. Further, the design requirements, sensory mechanisms, advantages, limitations, and the future scope of using the reported pyrene derivatives in Hg2+ and explosives sensing are discussed.