Aggregation induced emission enhancement in ionic self-assembled aggregates of benzimidazolium based cyclophane and sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate.

Cyclophane BIMCP-1 undergoes ionic self-assembly with surfactant sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) at a concentration far below its CMC value to form aggregates with spherical morphology. The rotational restriction of rings in these aggregates facilitates 32-fold enhancement in emission intensity (AIEE) to allow fluorescence based determination of SDBS with 4 μM (1.4 ppm) as the lowest detection limit. Sodium salts of fatty acids and inorganic anions halides, CN(-), HSO4(-), SO4(2-), H2PO4(-), SCN(-), and NO3(-) do not interfere in the estimation of SDBS.