Synthesis, optical properties of multi donor–acceptor substituted AIE pyridine derivatives dyes and application for Au3+ detection in aqueous solution

•A new series of pyridine derivative dyes were synthesized by domino reaction.•The dyes exhibit the high aggregation-induced emission features.•The dyes can be applied as fluorescent probe for detection the Au3+.•The probe can be applied in aqueous solution with high selectivity and sensitivity.

A series of multi donor–acceptor substituted pyridine derivative dyes were synthesed by three-component catalyst-free domino reaction in methanol aqueous at room temperature. The pyridine derivative dyes with thermally stable fluorescence exhibit aggregation-induced emission (AIE) in both aqueous solution and solid state due to the restricted intramolecular rotation as well. Furthermore, the family of molecule dyes showed nearly the full range of color emitters from blue to green and to orange. Moreover, the importance of dyes for heavy and transition metal ion species detection applications was demonstrated via the “turn off” detection of Au3+ in aqueous solution with the simple synthetic approach and high selectivity and sensitivity.

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