All the reagents and solvents were purchased from commercial sources and were used without further purification. 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethanesulfonic acid) (HEPES) was dissolved in water (2.5 × 10⁻⁴ M) which was used as buffer solution. Nitrate salts of Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, Zn²⁺, Pb²⁺, Fe³⁺, Cr³⁺ and Al³⁺ were dissolved in the HEPES_(aq) buffer to prepare their stock solutions (10⁻² M). PySb was dissolved in ethanol, DMF, or DMSO; the concentration was 2 × 10⁻⁵ M. ¹H NMR spectra with the chemical shifts reported in ppm were recorded on a Bruker AMX-600 MHz spectrometer, using tetramethylsilane (TMS) as an internal standard. Elemental analysis (EA) of carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen were measured on a Heraus CHN-Rapid elemental analyzer. The UV-Vis absorption spectra were recorded on a Jasco V-550 spectrophotometer using a quartz cuvette (path length = 1 cm). Photoluminescence (PL) spectra were recorded on a fluorescence spectrophotometer (Hitachi F-4500) in mixtures of water with appropriate organic solvents.

To a sodium carbonate solution (0.6 M, 2.8 ml) in 50-mL glass reactor was added with 5-bromo-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde (1: 0.264 g, 1.32 mmol), 2,7-bis(4,4,5, 5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolan-2-yl)pyrene (2:0.2 g, 0.44 mmol), and tri-tert-

Scheme 1. Synthesis of fluorescent sensor PySb.

butylphosphonium tetrafluoroborate (0.032 g, 0.11 mmol). Tris(dibenzylideneacetone)dipalladium(0) (Pd₂(dba)₃: 57 mg, 0.06 mmol) was dissolved in THF (18 ml) and added into the reactor by a syringe. The mixture was degassed by the freeze-pump-thaw cycle for three times. Next, the mixture was stirred at 65˚C for two days; then it was poured into water and extracted with dichloromethane. The combined organic layer was concentrated under reduced pressure, poured into n-hexane to obtain precipitate as crude product. The crude product was purified by flash column chromatography (eluent: dichloromethane) to afford 5,5’-(pyrene-2,7-diyl)bis(2-hydroxybenzaldehyde) (3) (yield: 0.11 g, 56.4%). ¹H NMR (600 MHz, DMSO-d₆, TMS, 25˚C): δ 10.80 - 11.03 (s, 2H, -CHO), 10.47 - 10.36 (s, 2H, -OH), 8.62 - 8.57 (s, 4H, Ar-H), 8.31 - 8.26 (s, 6H,Ar-H), 8.23 - 8.13 (d, 2H, Ar-H), 7.28 - 7.20 (d, 2H, Ar-H).

A mixture of 3 (0.15 g, 0.39 mmol), 2-amino-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane- 1,3-diol (4:0.41 g, 3.9 mmol) and methanol (150 ml) was stirred at 65˚C for two days. Methanol was evaporated by a rotavapor. The crude product was washed by water and acetone several times to obtain PySb (yield: 0.20 g, 90.8%). ¹H NMR (600 MHz, DMSO-d₆, TMS, 25˚C): δ 14.79 - 14.64 (s, 2H, phenolic OH), 8.80 - 8.71 (s, 2H, CNH), 8.63 - 8.55 (s, 4H, Ar-H), 8.28 - 8.19 (s, 4H, Ar-H), 8.17 - 8.09 (s, 2H, Ar-H), 8.03 - 7.95 (d, 2H, Ar-H), 7.01 - 6.93 (d, 2H, Ar-H), 4.90 - 4.78 (s, 6H, OH), 3.71 - 3.63 (d, 12H, CH₂). Anal. Calcd. for C₃₈H₃₆N₂O₈ (%): C, 70.36; H, 5.59; N, 4.32. Found: C, 69.47; H, 5.56; N, 4.20.

The new fluorescent sensor PySb was synthesized in two steps as shown in Scheme 1. First, the bis(2-hydroxybenzaldehyde) derivative (3) of pyrene was synthesized from 5-bromo-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde (1) and diboronate derivative of pyrene (2) via the Suzuki coupling reaction (Figure S1, Supplementary Material). It was further condensed with 2-amino-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane- 1,3-diol (4) via imine formation to obtain the fluorescent sensor PySb. The PySb was characterized by ¹H NMR spectrum, mass spectra, and elemental analysis. The ¹H NMR spectrum of PySb is demonstrated in Figure 1, in which the respective protons can be readily assigned due to its chemically symmetric structure. The chemical shifts at 3.71 - 3.63 ppm (i) are assigned to the protons of methylene protons next to alcoholic -OH, whereas those at 4.90 - 4.78 ppm (h) are assigned to the protons of alcoholic -OH. The chemical shifts at 7.01 - 6.93 ppm (g), 8.03 - 7.95 ppm (f), and 8.17 - 8.09 ppm (e) have been assigned to the protons on benzene rings. The chemical shifts at 8.28 - 8.19 ppm (d) and 8.63 - 8.55 ppm (c) are assigned to the protons on pyrene core. Finally, the chemical shifts at 8.80 - 8.71 ppm (b) are arisen from the protons on C=N bond. The chemical shifts at 14.79 - 14.64 ppm (a) are assigned to phenolic protons. The mass spectrum of PySb was measured by positive ion mode (M + H) (Figure S2). The average neutral mass of PySb is 648.70 (Figure S3). Setting m/z value of 649.25 to 100.00%, the corresponding m/z value of 650.25, 651.26, 652.26, and 653.26 were 42.57%, 10.48%, 1.89%, and 0.26%, respectively.

The absorption spectra of PySb with various metal ions in ethanol buffer solutions

are depicted in Figure 2. The absorption band at 306 nm is attributed to the π-π^* transitions of pyrene core [29] . Upon addition of Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, the absorption of PySb remains nearly unchanged, indicating that PySb does not interact with these ions. On the other hand, the absorption intensities increased with little red or blue shifts (1 - 10 nm) when Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, Zn²⁺, Pb²⁺, Fe³⁺, Cr³⁺, or Al³⁺ were added. This suggests that PySb might have interaction with these ions.

PySb itself exhibits very weak fluorescence in ethanol buffer solution (Figure 3). The fluorescence quenching can be explained by the photo-induced electron-transfer (PET) mechanism [30] [31] as illustrated in Figure 4. The fluorescent relaxation of photo-excited electron from pyrene core is forbidden, because the HOMO has been fully filled by obtaining an electron from high-lying HOMO of the terminal 2-iminophenol groups. Upon addition of various metal ions, only Zn²⁺ ion caused a significant enhancement of fluorescence intensity (51 times compared to free PySb, λ_em = 470 nm). The enhanced sky-blue fluorescence can be clearly observed by naked eyes (Figure 5). The result shows that PySb can be applied as an efficient Zn²⁺ sensor in ethanol solution.

The binding stoichiometry between PySb and Zn²⁺ was determined by the Job plot. By plotting the fluorescence intensities versus the molar fraction of Zn²⁺, two regression lines are obtained and they intersect at about 0.66 (Figure 6), indicating 1:2 stoichiometric ratio between PySb and Zn²⁺. In other words, each terminal Schiff base moiety in PySb chelates with one Zn²⁺.

To further investigate the sensitivity of this fluorescence enhancement, PL spectra of PySb were measured with increasing amount of Zn²⁺ (from 0.1 to 20 equivalents). As depicted in Figure 7, the fluorescence intensity increases gradually with increasing Zn²⁺ concentration and reaches the asymptotic value at approximately 12 equivalents of Zn²⁺ ion. The binding constant (K_a) of PySb was evaluated from titration data as 2 × 10⁹ M⁻¹ using the Benesi-Hildebrand plot. Moreover, the limit of detection (LOD) was 2.39 × 10⁻⁸ M using the equation LOD = 3σ/m, where σ and m represent the standard deviation (0.558) of blank solutions and the slope (7 × 10⁷) of fluorescence intensity versus Zn²⁺ concentration plot respectively (Figure S5).

For real-time application, it is important to evaluate the interference from other metal ions. As shown in Figure 8, only Na⁺, K⁺, and Ca²⁺ show no interference against Zn²⁺ sensing. This is coincident with the above-mentioned spectral observation of PySb, i.e., no obvious spectral change in the presence of these three ions. However, the fluorescence intensities of PySb were partially diminished by Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, and Pb²⁺. Moreover, the fluorescence intensities were dramatically debilitated in the presence of Fe³⁺, Cr³⁺, or Al³⁺, indicating that these ions bind strongly with PySb to quench the fluorescence. Finally, Cu²⁺ was the only metal ion that completely quenched the fluorescence. This quenching phenomenon is commonly seen in many fluorescent sensors owning to the

paramagnetic nature of Cu²⁺ [32] [33] [34] .

In preparation of PySb solutions for fluorescence experiments, we observed fluorescence intensity changes of PySb in different solvents. PySb-Zn²⁺ exhibited stronger fluorescence intensity in ethanol than in DMF. However, ethanol was a poor solvent for PySb while DMF was a good solvent for PySb. Therefore, an experiment was carried out to investigate this interesting phenomenon. The variations of fluorescence spectra of PySb were monitored in mixture solvents of DMF and ethanol. As presented in Figure 9, the fluorescence intensity at ca. 470 nm first remains nearly unchanged from solutions with 100% DMF to DMF/ethanol = 5/5. Then the intensity starts to increase gradually to DMF/ethanol = 1/99. The fluorescence intensity is increased about 1.8 times in 99% ethanol solution, compared to low ethanol content solutions (0 - 50% ethanol). Apparently, the fluorescence emission is enhanced with increasing composition of poor solvent. This phenomenon can be explained by the aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) caused by restricting intramolecular rotation (RIR). The rotation of the conjugated single bond, which links pyrene core and terminal 2-iminophenol group, consumes part of excitation energy in DMF solution. Such rotation is confined as PySb-Zn²⁺ starts to form as nanoparticle suspensions in higher ethanol content solutions (>50%). The formation of nanoparticle suspensions can be validated from the level-off tail in UV-Vis spectra (Figure 10) due to Mie effect [35] [36] . The result reveals that the two terminal benzene rings not only serve as a linker but also facilitate further enhancement in fluorescence intensity. Such molecular design could be applied to enhance sensitivity and detection limit of fluorescent sensors.

It is noteworthy that although ethanol is a poor solvent, ratiometric detection toward Zn²⁺ as discussed previously still shows good accuracy. The reason can be explained as following: The poor solubility of PySb is mainly attributed to its

pyrene core, whereas the binding site in 2-iminophenol group contains four polar -OH groups. Therefore, the binding ability toward Zn²⁺ is not greatly influenced in ethanol solution, and therefore data with good consistency and accuracy were obtained.

Figure 11 demonstrates pH responses of PySb with and without Zn²⁺ from pH = 2.0 to pH = 12.0. PySb did not show significant fluorescence enhancement without Zn²⁺ until pH = 12.0. At pH = 12.0, an emission band at 515 nm appears with a fluorescence enhancement (FE) factor of 17. Clearly, the emission arises from the formation of phenolate anion in basic environment as illustrated in Figure 12. This significant emission enhancement can be explained by intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) [37] [38] [39] . The stronger electron-donating ability of phenolate anion strengthens its electron delocalization, resulting in an extended conjugation with benzene ring and imino moiety. The red shift of emission band from 470 nm to 515 nm indicates a chromophore change from pyrene moiety to the extended conjugated system.

In Figure 11(b), the fluorescence is still quenched in the presence of Zn²⁺ in low pH ranging from 2.0 to 3.0, and it reaches maximum at ca. pH 10.0. This implies that the formation of PySb-Zn²⁺ complex is more favorable at moderate high pH and it is inhibited by the protonation of N atom at low pH. As pH reached 12.0, the solution exhibits the same green emission (peak at 515 nm) as the one without Zn²⁺ (Figure 11(a)). The result reveals a competition effect between inhibited PET emission and ICT emission [40] [41] [42] . The above results validate that PySb can serve as a Zn²⁺ sensor in a wide pH range. Besides, H⁺ and OH⁻ do not generate confusing signals against Zn²⁺ sensing, which is rare for Schiff base PET sensors [43] .

Next, we investigated the photophysical properties of PySb in DMSO solution. The absorption spectra [Figure 13(a)] shows similar result to those in ethanol buffer solutions, both metal ions have interactions with PySb. Interestingly, PySb exhibits different fluorescence responses in DMSO solutions [Figure 13(b)]. The fluorescence with addition of Zn²⁺ became indistinct, while addition of Al³⁺

generated strong fluorescence enhancement. Cr³⁺ also induced weak fluorescence enhancement but with a deeper blue color. Therefore, it appears that PySb can serve as Al³⁺ sensor in DMSO solution.

The sensitivity of PySb toward Al³⁺ in DMSO solution was investigated by titration experiment as depicted in Figure 14. Surprisingly, PySb did not exhibit fluorescence enhancement until two equivalents of Al³⁺ were added. This result reveals that when PySb is dissolved in DMSO solution, strong fluorescence is generated only when both binding sites are chelated with Al³⁺. It is reasonable to suppose that the quenching ability of imine moieties varies with solvents. In DMSO, both imine moieties can quench the fluorescence completely through the PET mechanism, thus the fluorescence is recovered only when both binding sites are chelated with Al³⁺. On the contrary, in ethanol the quenching ability of imine moieties is less than 100%, so the fluorescence can be recovered when one of the binding sites is chelated with Zn²⁺. Since PySb did not show fluorescence response until two equivalent of Al³⁺ were added, the investigation of Job plot, binding constant and detection limit could not be conducted.

Figure 15 demonstrates competition effects from other metal ions against Al³⁺ sensing. Aside from Cu²⁺ which completely quenched the fluorescence as in ethanol solutions, only Fe³⁺ partially decreased fluorescence intensity. The result agrees with the observation in ethanol solutions that PySb exhibits higher binding tendency toward Al³⁺. Thus PySb can serve as a highly selective Al³⁺ sensor in DMSO solution.

The formation of PySb-Zn²⁺ complex was further investigated by ¹H NMR spectra in deuterated N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF-d₇, Figure 16). The one at the bottom represents ¹H NMR spectrum of free PySb in DMF-d₇, three solvent peaks of DMF, one solvent peak of H₂O and all proton signals, except for the proton f which merged into DMF solvent peak near 8.0 ppm, of PySb have been assigned. Upon addition of Zn²⁺ the signal of phenolic proton (a) significantly shifted from 14.66 ppm to 11.25 ppm, whereas the signal of alcoholic protons (h) at about 4.93 ppm split into three broad peaks ranging from 5 - 7 ppm. However, no shift was observed for the peak of imine protons (b) at 8.92 ppm, but the peak became much broader. The above phenomena indicate that the three alcoholic -OH, phenolic -OH and -H on C=N bond have interactions with Zn²⁺. Moreover, a new signal appeared at 10.43 ppm, suggesting that the formation of

PySb-Zn²⁺ complex might involve an additional hydroxide ion (OH⁻). The disappearance of signals of alcoholic (h) and alcoholic protons (a) after addition of D₂O confirms the presence of these exchangeable protons.

¹H NMR spectra of PySb-Al³⁺ complex in DMSO (Figure 17) shows similar results, but the changes in proton signals are much smaller than in DMF. In fact, it took a long time for PySb to reach saturated fluorescence intensity with Al³⁺ (about 3 hr). Therefore, the small signal changes are probably due to slow formation of PySb-Al³⁺ complex.