Easy and Fast Detection of Hypochlorite by a Bithiophene-Based Fluorescent Turn-on Sensor and its Applications to Test Strips, Real Water Samples, and Smartphone-Assisted Platform.

We report a bithiophene-based fluorescence probe BDT (2,2'-(((1 E, 1'E)-[2,2'-bithiophene]-5,5'-diylbis(methaneylylidene))bis(azaneylylidene))bis(4-(tert-butyl)phenol)) for recognizing ClO. BDT selectively responded to ClO, leading to a blue fluorescence enhancement in a mixture of DMF/HEPES buffer (9:1, v/v). Importantly, BDT showed an ultrafast response (within 1 s) to ClO among the fluorescent turn-on chemosensors based on bithiophene.