Novel Diarylethene-Based Fluorescent Switching for the Detection of Al(3+) and Construction of Logic Circuit

[Image: see text] A novel photochromic diarylethene was synthesized successfully containing a phthalazine unit. Its multistate fluorescence switching properties were investigated by stimulating with UV/vis lights and Al(3+)/EDTA. The synthesized diarylethene displayed excellent selectivity to Al(3+) with a distinct fluorescence change, revealing that it could be used as a sensor for fluorescence identification of Al(3+), and a logic circuit was constructed by utilizing this diarylethene molecular platform. Moreover, it also exhibited a high accuracy for the determination of Al(3+) in practical water samples.