(2.5 × 10Ϫ5 mol dmϪ3) under five times excess of metal salts,
excited with a femtosecond laser at 400 nm. PIAQ-But was
used as a model compound for PIAQ without AC. The decay
for PIAQ-But is almost a single exponential with a lifetime of
420 ps. The fluorescence lifetime of PIAQ–AC in metal free
conditions was too fast to be measured by our system. The
fluorescence lifetimes of PIAQ–AC with Ca2ϩ and Ba2ϩ ions
were estimated from Fig. 5 as 234 and 228 ps, respectively.
These results strongly suggest that the fluorescence quenching is
due to the photoinduced intramolecular electron transfer from
AC to the excited PIAQ and that it is sensitively controlled by
the electrostatic interactions between metal cations and the lone
pair electrons in the aza-crown.
The time-resolved absorption spectra upon excitation with a
femtosecond laser were measured in order to directly prove the
above mechanism, the details of which will be reported
elsewhere.13 PIAQ-But exhibited transient absorption with a
lifetime of 470 ps due to the excited singlet state. PIAQ–AC
exhibited transient absorption of the excited singlet state with a
lifetime of only 5.8 ps and a new absorption with a peak of 610
nm which was attributed to PIAQ anion radicals. From these
results the fluorescent sensing of metal ions by PIAQ–AC due
to the PET process was directly proved.
In conclusion, we have developed new fluorescent PET
chemosensors based on a 2-phenylimidazo[5,4-a]anthraquin-
one (PIAQ) chromophore. The PIAQ chromophore is a good
electron acceptor and exhibits absorption and emission bands
in the visible region, which draw out favorable characteristics of
the PIAQ–AC chemosensors. Marked fluorescence quenching
by an intramolecular PET reaction from the AC to the excited
PIAQ chromophore was directly proved. The changes in the
association constants (log K) and fluorescence quantum yields
(ΦF) upon binding of metal ions to the aza-crown shown in
Table 1 revealed that PIAQ–AC chemosensors can recognize
the charge and the size of metal cations and precisely transform
their information into the magnitude of the enhanced
fluorescence. Thus, the PIAQ chromophore is a useful molec-
ular part for designing new fluorescent chemosensors emitting
visible signals.
Synthesis of 1-amino-2-[4-(chloromethyl)benzoylamino]anthra-
quinone (3)
A solution of 4-(chloromethyl)benzoyl chloride (0.43 g, 4.62
mmol) in 1,4-dioxane (30 ml) was added dropwise to a solution
of 1,2-diaminoanthraquinone (1.00 g, 4.2 mmol) and triethyl-
amine (0.43 g, 4.2 mmol) in 1,4-dioxane (180 ml) with stirring at
60 ЊC. After being stirred for 7 h at 60 ЊC, the solvent was
removed under reduced pressure, and the residue was washed
with 50% aqueous ethanol, dried, and chromatographed on
silica gel (CHCl3–AcOEt = 3:1 as eluent) to give 3 (0.958 g,
60%). mp 256–257 ЊC. IR (KBr)/cmϪ1 3422 (NH), 3304, 3229
1
(NH ), 1655 (C᎐O), 1287, 718; H NMR δ (DMSO-d6) 4.85
᎐
2
H
(2H, s), 7.55–8.3 (12H, m), 9.93 (1H, b); (Found: C, 67.48; H,
3.86; N, 7.23. C22H15N2O3Cl requires C, 67.61; H, 3.87; N,
7.17%).
Synthesis of 1-amino-2-[4-(aza-15-crown-5-ethermethyl)-
benzoylamino]anthraquinone (4a)
A mixture of the compound 3 (0.64 g, 1.54 mmol), 1-aza-15-
crown-5-ether (0.405 g, 1.85 mmol), and triethylamine (0.47 g)
in 1,4-dioxane (180 ml) was heated under reflux with stirring for
25 h. After the reaction, the solvent was removed under reduced
pressure and the residue was extracted with CH2Cl2. The
organic extract was washed with water and evaporated, the
residue was chromatographed on silica gel (CHCl3–AcOEt =
3:1 as eluent) and was further purified by recrystallization
from 95% ethanol to give 4a (0.58 g, 68%). mp 167–168 ЊC. IR
(KBr)/cmϪ1 3416 (NH), 3302 (NH ), 2870 (CH ), 1658 (C᎐O),
᎐
2
2
1
1283, 1105, 720; H NMR δH (CDCl3) 2.77 (4H, t), 3.5–3.8
(18H, m), 7.08 (2H, b), 7.45 (2H, d), 7.6–8.3 (9H, m); (Found:
C, 66.77; H, 6.01; N, 7.17. C32H35N3O7 requires C, 67.00; H,
6.15; N, 7.33%).
Synthesis of 2-[4-(aza-15-crown-5-ethermethyl)phenyl]imidazo-
[5,4-a]anthraquinone (5a)
A mixture of the compound 4a (1.0 g, 1.74 mmol), NaOH (0.07
g, 1.75 mmol) in 95% ethanol (350 ml) was heated under reflux
with stirring for 1.5 h. After cooling to room temperature, the
reaction mixture was neutralized with aqueous HCl, and the
solvent was evaporated, then the residue was washed with
water. The crude product was chromatographed on silica gel
(ethanol as eluent), and was further purified by recrystallization
from 95% ethanol to give 5a (0.420 g, 43%). mp 141–142 ЊC. IR
(KBr)/cmϪ1 3422 (NH), 2874 (CH ), 1664 (C᎐O), 1296, 1092,
Experimental
Mps were measured with a Yanaco micro melting point
1
apparatus MP-500D and are uncorrected. H NMR spectra
were taken on a Hitachi Model R-90H spectrometer with
tetramethylsilane (TMS) as an internal standard. IR spectra
were recorded on a JASCO FT/IR-5300 spectrophotometer for
samples in KBr pellet form. Elemental analyses were measured
on a Perkin-Elmer 2400 II. Absorption spectra were measured
using a JASCO U-best 30 spectrophotometer. Fluorescence
spectra and quantum yields were measured with a JASCO FP-
777 spectrophotometer. A solution of quinine sulfate in sulfuric
acid (0.05 M) was used as the standard for quantum yield (ΦF)
measurements and taken to have ΦF = 0.55. Cyclic voltammetry
was performed by means of a BAS CV-50W. A three-electrode
system, containing of a glassy carbon working electrode and
platinum wire counter electrode and a Ag/AgCl electrode as
reference, was adopted. The electrolytic solvent was acetonitrile
containing 0.1 mol dmϪ3 tetraethylammonium perchlorate
(TEAP) as supporting electrolyte. Prior to measurements, all
solutions were thoroughly degassed with argon for at least 20
min. The association constants (K) were obtained by a non-
linear least-squares analysis reported by Bourson et al.11 The
fluorescence lifetimes were measured with an imaging spectro-
graph (Hamamatsu, C5094) and a streak scope (Hamamatsu,
C2830) with a high speed streak unit (Hamamatsu, M2547).
Acetonitrile for use in absorption and fluorescence spectro-
scopy or cyclic voltammetry was dried and distilled before
use.
᎐
2
720; 1H NMR δH (CDCl3), 2.84 (4H, t), 3.5–3.9 (18H, m), 7.57
(2H, d), 7.7–7.9 (2H, m), 8.0–8.4 (6H, m), 11.25 (1H, b);
λmax(MeCN)/nm 405, εmax/dm3 molϪ1 cmϪ1 14,300; (Found: C,
68.93; H, 5.95; N, 7.47. C32H33N3O6 requires C, 69.17; H, 5.98;
N, 7.56%).
Synthesis of 1-amino-2-[4-(aza-18-crown-6-ethermethyl)benzoyl-
amino]anthraquinone (4b)
A mixture of the compound 3 (0.50 g, 1.28 mmol), 1-aza-18-
crown-6 (0.404 g, 1.54 mmol) and triethylamine (0.389 g) in
1,4-dioxane (150 ml) was heated under reflux with stirring for
25 h. After the reaction, the solvent was removed under reduced
pressure and the residue was extracted with CH2Cl2. The
organic extract was washed with water and evaporated,
the residue was chromatographed on silica gel (CHCl3–
AcOEt = 3:1 as eluent), and was further purified by recrystal-
lization from 95% ethanol to give 4b (0.506 g, 66%). mp 167–
168 ЊC. IR (KBr)/cmϪ1 3418 (NH), 3302 (NH2), 2876 (CH2),
1658 (C᎐O), 1281, 1109, 720; 1H NMR δ (CDCl ) 2.78 (4H, t),
᎐
H
3
3.5–3.8 (22H, m), 7.10 (2H, b), 7.46 (2H, d), 7.6–8.3 (9H, m);
(Found: C, 65.83; H, 6.30; N, 6.74. C34H39N3O8 requires C,
66.11; H, 6.36; N, 6.80%).
396
J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 2, 1999, 393–397