Fluorescent Terpolymers Using Two Non-Emissive Monomers for Cr(III) Sensors, Removal, and Bio-Imaging.

The nonconventional purely aliphatic intrinsically fluorescent multifunctional terpolymers, such as 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid--2-(3-acrylamidopropylamido)-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid--acrylamide (AMPS--APMPS--AM, ), acrylic acid--3-acrylamidopropanoic acid--acrylamide (AA--APA--AM, ), and methacrylic acid--3-acrylamido-2-methyl propanoic acid--acrylamide (MAA--AMPA--AM, ), were synthesized via N- functionalized multi-C-C/N-C coupled in situ attachments of fluorophore monomers, that is, APMPS, APA, and AMPA, in solution polymerization of two non-fluorescent monomers. These terpolymers were suitable for selective Cr(III) sensors, high-performance exclusions of Cr(III), and fluorescence imaging of human osteosarcoma cancer cells. The structures of , , and , in situ attachments of fluorescent amino acid monomers, locations of fluorophores, aggregation-induced enhanced emissions, and the superadsorption mechanism were understood via microstructural analyses. The geometries, electronic structures, and the low-lying singlet-singlet absorption and emission of , , and were explored using density functional theory (DFT), time-dependent DFT, and natural transition orbital analyses. The ionic and variable interactions of , , and with Cr(III) were envisaged via analyses of adsorbed microstructures, fitting of kinetics data to a pseudo-second-order model, and the measurements of activation energies. For //, limit of detection values and adsorption capacities were 1.88 × 10/3.75 × 10/1.25 × 10 M and 1316.35/1431.40/1372.18 mg g, respectively, at pH = 7.0, 303 K, and 1000 ppm. The better overall properties made to be more suitable in sensing and cell imaging.