Light-Emitting Multifunctional Maleic Acid--2-(-(hydroxymethyl)acrylamido)succinic Acid---(hydroxymethyl)acrylamide for Fe(III) Sensing, Removal, and Cell Imaging.

The intrinsically fluorescent highly hydrophilic multifunctional aliphatic terpolymer, maleic acid (MA)--2-(-(hydroxymethyl)acrylamido)succinic acid (NHASA)---(hydroxymethyl)acrylamide (NHMA), that is, , was designed and synthesized via C-C/N-C-coupled in situ allocation of a fluorophore monomer, that is, NHASA, composed of amido and carboxylic acid functionalities in the polymerization of two nonemissive MA and NHMA. The scalable and reusable intrinsically fluorescent biocompatible was suitable for sensing and high-performance adsorptive exclusion of Fe(III), along with the imaging of Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. The structure of , in situ fluorophore monomer, aggregation-induced enhanced emission, cell-imaging ability, and superadsorption mechanism were studied via microstructural analyses using H/C NMR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, atomic absorption spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic light scattering, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, solid-state fluorescence, fluorescence lifetime, and fluorescence imaging, along with measuring kinetics, isotherms, and thermodynamic parameters. The location, electronic structures, and geometries of the fluorophore and absorption and emission properties of were investigated using density functional theory and natural transition orbital analyses. The limit of detection and the maximum adsorption capacity were 2.45 × 10 M and 542.81 mg g, respectively.