A polyamidoamine dendrimer with peripheral 1,8-naphthalimide groups capable of acting as a PET fluorescent sensor for the rare earth cations

The effect of the rare earth ions (Er3+, Eu3+, Gd3+, Nd3+, Tb3+, Yb3+) upon the fluorescent intensity of a third generation polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer with a peripheral 1,8-naphthalimide group was investigated. The presence of the rare earth ions were found to evoke a photoinduced electron transfer leading to an enhancement in the fluorescence. The results obtained reveal the capacities of these systems to act as sensitive detectors of environment pollution by the rare earth ions.