Highly selective chemiluminescence detection of hydroxyl radical via increased π-electron densities of rhodamine B on montmorillonite matrix

• RhB–montmorillonite hybrids act as novel CL probe for OH.
• High selectivity towards
• OH is due to the electrophilic properties of
• OH.
• Increased π-electron densities of RhB molecules are responsible for ultrastrong CL.
• This CL probe is validated for sensing
• OH in mouse plasma samples.

The current chemiluminescence (CL) probes for hydroxyl radical (
• OH) are poorly selective owing to a non-specific redox reaction. To the best of our knowledge, there have not been established on the CL probes for
• OH using the strong electrophilicity of
• OH. In this work, an ultrastrong CL emission is initiated by electrophilic attack of
• OH towards rhodamine B (RhB) on the surface of montomorillonite (MMT). The improved CL emissions are attributed to the oriented H-type aggregation of RhB molecules on the surface of MMT by π–π stacking interactions, resulting in an increase in π-electron density of aromatic ring of RhB. The high π-electron density of benzene ring could facilitate the attack of electrophilic
• OH towards RhB. In addition, a novel CL probe for
• OH with high selectivity and high sensitivity has been established using the electrophilic properties of
• OH rather than its common redox properties. The applicability of the proposed CL probe is evaluated by detecting
• OH in untreated and gentamicin treated mouse fresh plasma samples. Our findings provide a new strategy to improve the selectivity of CL sensor of
• OH.

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