Novel hetero-fluoranthenes towards nitroaromatic sensing

Abstract

Summary: Chapter 1: This chapter gives a broad literature review to explosives and nitroaromatic sensing of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) particularly fluoranthenes which are discussed in subsequent chapters. The concept of fluorescence quenching is discussed, taking examples from a broad range of published work which is an important preface to the results in the following chapters. Chapter 2: This chapter details the synthesis and characterisation of a novel family of nitrogen substituted tert-butyl fluoranthenes via the [2+4] Diels-Alder route and their application in nitroaromatic sensing. Static fluorescence quenching mechanism was observed between these tert-butyl fluoranthenes and the explosive picric acid which was supported by DFT studies. It was observed that incorporation of nitrogen atoms into the fluoranthene core increases the sensitivity towards explosives particularly picric acid, demonstrated by the increased quenching ability recorded experimentally.