Naked eye screening of 11 phenolic compounds and colorimetric determination using polydiacetylene vesicles with α-cyclodextrin

•Naked eye screening procedure for 11 phenolic compounds in water was proposed.•UV–vis determination of 4 phenolic compounds based on polydiacetylene vesicles was achieved.•The method was validated and applied for surface water analysis.

The colorimetric response (CR) of poly(10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid) vesicles (PPCDA) induced by α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) in an aqueous solution has been studied. Various parameters affecting the CR, such as response time and concentration were investigated. The blue color of 0.01 mM PPCDA solution became pinkish red with the addition of α-CD at the concentration higher than 3 mM. The inhibition of the color transition from blue to red was investigated using 11 phenolic compounds. The color transition could be inhibited and observed by naked eye in the presence of 4 phenolic compounds, i.e. 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and 4-bromophenol (4-BP) and 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) and 3-nitrophenol (3-NP). A colorimetric method for the determination of these compounds was validated and applied for surface water analysis. The linear range from the plot of CR against phenolic compounds concentration was in the order of 0.5–2.0 mM with R2 more than 0.99. The recoveries were 90–95% with good precision (1–4%RSD, n = 10).

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