Studies on the photophysical properties of 1,8-naphthalimide derivative and aggregation induced emission recognition for casein

A novel water-soluble 1,8-naphthalimide derivative 1, bearing two acetic carboxylic groups, exhibited fluorescent turn-on recognition for casein micelle based on the aggregation induced emission (AIE) character. The photophysical properties of 1 consisting of donor and acceptor units were investigated by the solvation effect. Changing from polar to non-polar solvent increased the solvent interaction; both the excitation and emission spectra were shifted to shorter wavelength and intensity decreased through taking advantage of twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) and self-association fluorescence emission. Moreover, the red-shift and quenching in protic solvent were caused by the excited-state hydrogen bond strengthening effect. The density functional theory (DFT) and time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) were used to obtain the most stable structure, electronic excitation energy, dipole moments and charge distribution. The AIE mechanism of 1 with casein micelle was due to 1 docked in the hydrophobic cavity between sub-micelles and bound with amino acid residues, resulting in the aggregation of 1 on the casein micelle surface and emission enhancement, based on which, a novel casein assay method was developed. The proposed method exhibited a good linear range from 0.1 to 10.5 μg mL−1, with the detection limit of 3.0 ng mL−1. Satisfactory reproducibility, reversibility and a short response time were realized. This method was applied for the determination of casein in milk powder samples, avoiding the interferences from other components and illegal additives in milk.