A conjugated polymer with ethyl 2-(2-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-1-yl) acetate units as a novel fluorescent chemosensor for silver(I) detection

Abstract A novel conjugated polymer ( P1 ) containing fluorene and ethyl 2-(2-(pyridin-2-yl)-1 H -benzo[ d ]imidazol-1-yl)acetate (PBMA) was designed and successfully synthesized through the Sonogashira coupling reaction. P1 shows high sensitivity and selectivity for Ag + detection in comparison to other metal cations. Upon addition of Ag + , the fluorescent emission of the polymer solution in THF was quenched dramatically, accompanying the color changed from blue to green. The detection limit for Ag + was 5 × 10 −8  mol L −1 . However, the similar copolymers P2 and P3 containing 2-(pyridin-2-yl)-1 H -benzo[ d ]imidazole and 2-(thiophen-2-yl)-1 H -benzo[ d ]imidazole, respectively, did not …