A highly sensitive and selective fluorescent sensor for Al3+ and Zn2+ based on diarylethene with an aminouracil unit

•This paper reports a new diarylethene with an aminouracil unit that was designed and synthesized for the first time.•The diarylethene exhibited multi-responsive switch behaviors with the stimuli of lights, base/acid, and metal ions.•The diarylethene could act as a fluorescent sensor for Al3+ and Zn2+ and be used to construct molecular logic circuits.

A novel diarylethene containing a 5-aminouracil unit was synthesized. Its multi-responsive properties induced by base/acid, UV/Vis lights, and metal ions were investigated in detail. The diarylethene was highly selective towards Al3+ and Zn2+ with obvious fluorescence changes and different binding modes. Furthermore, based on the multi-addressable characteristics, two logic circuits were constructed by using both UV/Vis lights and chemical species stimuli as inputs and fluorescence intensity as outputs.

Graphical abstractA new photochromic diarylethene with a 5-aminouracil unit for highly selective affinity to Al3+ and Zn2+ was synthesized. The diarylethene could act as a fluorescent sensor for Al3+ and Zn2+ and be used to construct molecular logic circuits.Download high-res image (252KB)Download full-size image