Fluorescent Molecular Rotors Based on Hinged Anthracene Carboxyimides

Temperature and viscosity are essential parameters in medicine, environmental science, smart materials, and biology. However, few fluorescent sensor publications mention the direct relationship between temperature and viscosity. Three anthracene carboxyimide-based fluorescent molecular rotors, 1DiAC∙Cl, 2DiAC∙Cl, and 9DiAC∙Cl, were designed and synthesized. Their photophysical properties were studied in various solvents, such as N, N-dimethylacetamide, N, N-dimethylformamide, 1-propanol, ethanol, dimethyl sulfoxide, methanol, and water. Solvent polarizability resulted in a solvatochromism effect for all three rotors and their absorption and emission spectra were analyzed via the Lippert–Mataga equation and multilinear analysis using Kamlet–Taft and Catalán parameters. The rotors exhibited red-shifted absorption and emission bands in solution on account of differences in their torsion angle. The three rotors demonstrated strong fluorescence in a high-viscosity environment due to restricted intramolecular rotation. Investigations carried out under varying ratios of water to glycerol were explored to probe the viscosity-based changes in their optical properties. A good linear correlation between the logarithms of fluorescence intensity and solution viscosity for two rotors, namely 2DiAC∙Cl and 9DiAC∙Cl, was observed as the percentage of glycerol increased. Excellent exponential regression between the viscosity-related temperature and emission intensity was observed for all three investigated rotors.