A tetraphenylethene (TPE) derivative was designed and synthesized upon conjugation with bis(thiophen-2-ylmethyl) amine (BTA) containing a mercury-binding moiety and further characterized by using Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), LC-MS, UV–Vis, and fluorescence spectroscopic methods. The resulting TPE-BTA exhibited comprehensive aggregation-induced emission while expressing a high quantum yield and emission intensity at 70% water fraction. The probe exhibited a good photochromic effect with a Stokes shift of 178 nm, and the emission intensity at 550 nm increased considerably with the color turning from dark green to bright green under a UV lamp upon the addition of 5 μM Hg²⁺. The lowest-energy conformation of the probe showed that two thiophene rings were perpendicular to the phenyl ring, while two BTA molecules were situated in a staggered form to each other. The sulfur and nitrogen atoms present in TPE-BTA were coordinated to the Hg²⁺ ion, and these binding sites were confirmed by the NMR parameters, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy signals, and structural calculations. The binding of Hg²⁺ to TPE-BTA was believed to restrict the intramolecular motion of TPE-BTA, thus inducing it to shine brighter according to the unique aggregation-induced emission effect. The concentration of Hg²⁺ was determined based on the enhancement of the emission intensity, and the present probe showed an extremely high sensitivity with a limit of detection of 10.5 nM. Furthermore, TPE-BTA enabled selective detection of Hg²⁺ even in the presence of a 1000-fold excess of other interfering metal ions. The proposed method was successfully employed to determine Hg²⁺ in living HeLa cells and real water samples.

设计并与含有汞结合部分的双（噻吩-2-基甲基）胺（BTA）偶联合成四苯乙烯（TPE）衍生物，并进一步利用核磁共振（NMR），LC-MS，UV-Vis进行表征，以及荧光光谱法。所得的TPE-BTA表现出全面的聚集诱导发射，同时在70％的水含量下表现出高量子产率和发射强度。加入5μMHg ²⁺后，该探针表现出良好的光致变色效果，斯托克斯位移为178 nm，550 nm处的发射强度随着颜色从深绿色变为亮绿色而显着增加。。探针的最低能量构象表明，两个噻吩环垂直于苯环，而两个BTA分子彼此交错排列。TPE-BTA中存在的硫和氮原子与Hg ²⁺离子配位，这些结合位点通过NMR参数，X射线光电子能谱信号和结构计算得到证实。据认为，Hg ²⁺与TPE-BTA的结合会限制TPE-BTA的分子内运动，从而根据独特的聚集诱导的发射效应使Hg ²⁺发光。汞²⁺的浓度基于发射强度的增强来确定离子强度，并且本探针显示出极高的灵敏度，检测极限为10.5 nM。此外，即使在其他干扰金属离子过量1000倍的情况下，TPE-BTA仍能够选择性检测Hg ²⁺。该方法成功地用于测定活HeLa细胞和真实水样中的Hg ²⁺。