A highly selective Pyrene appended Oxacalixarene receptor for MNA and 4- NP detection: an experimental and computational study

Abstract

A novel bipyrene-substituted calix[4]arene (BPOC) was designed and synthesized to employ as a fluorescent probe, which enables the detection of MNA and 4-NP among all the explosive materials. Utilizing 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and FT-IR analysis techniques, its structure was characterized. The binding property of BPOC to various NACs, including 1,3-DNB, 2,3-DNT, 2,4-DNT, 2,6-DNT, 4-NP, 4-NT, and PA, revealed that the sensor binds to MNA and 4-NP with remarkable selectivity and detection limits of 0.2 µM and 0.3 µM, respectively, for MNA and 4-NP. Using docking and density functional theory (DFT), computational insights were provided for investigating the stability and spectroscopic analysis of the inclusion complex. The calculations supplement the findings significantly and clarify the structural geometry and mode of interactions in supramolecular complexation. In an MTT experiment on human PBMC to check for cytotoxicity, this chemical was found to influence 1 × 105 cell viability dose-dependently.