Abstract: A new compound, N-(9-anthracylmethyl)-L-histidine (1), was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR, etc. The effects of pH values and metal ions on the fluorescent intensity of compound 1 were studied. In neutral aqueous solutions, the fluorescence intensity of compound 1 increased upon addition of Zn2+ or Cd2+, while other metal ions (Pb2+, Co2+, Hg2+, Ni2+, and Cu2+) quenched the fluorescence. Among these metal ions, Cu2+ and Ni2+ had the strongest quenching capacity. They both formed a stable complex with compound 1 (1:2 molar ratio), and the complex constants were 2.88×106 and 1.12×106 L2·mol-2, respectively. The experimental results showed that static quenching was involved in adding Cu2+ or Ni2+ in aqueous solution of compound 1. On the basis of these studies, a NOR fluorescent molecular logic gate was fabricated with Cu2+ and Ni2+ as two inputs and with emission of anthracene as the output.

Key words: Fluorescent logic gate, L-histidine, Anthracene, Cu2+, Ni2+