A 4-N,N-dimethylaminoaniline salicylaldehyde Schiff-base solution-solid dual emissive fluorophore: An aggregation-induced turquoise emission characteristics in liquid as a fluorescent probe for Zn2+ response; a strong near-infrared emission in solid state and application for optical data storage

Abstract A new Schiff-base 1 based on 4-N,N-dimethylaminoaniline salicylaldehyde is developed. It possesses unique solution-solid dual emission behaviour with emission color: an aggregation-induced bright turquoise emission in liquid and strong near-infrared emission in the solid state. Interestingly, on the one hand, compound 1 is promising a ratiometric fluorescent probe for Zn2+ ions detection in the aqueous solution with high sensitivity, selectivity, and relatively low detection limit. On the other hand, based on its inner stimuli-responsive nature, outstanding thermostability and photostability, 1 should be a very promising candidate for the write-once read-many optical data storage medium.