ESIPT induced AIEE active material for recognition of 2-thiobarbituric acid

New carbazole based compound 3 is designed and synthesized which exhibits excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) phenomenon and induces the aggregation induced emission enhancement (AIEE) behaviour in H2O:THF (60:40). The aggregates of 3 in H2O:THF (60:40) has been utilized for recognition of 2-thiobarbituric acid. A comparative study is accomplished using barbituric acid, urea, thiophene, carbon disulphide, and thiourea. It was observed that among all the analytes tested, aggregates of 3 recognizes 2-thiobarbituric acid with highest efficacy. The role of ESIPT in induction of AIEE is justified by comparative studies with a reference compounds 5 and 6 under similar conditions.