Alternative synthetic pathways to selected molecular fluorophores present in citric acid-based carbon dots
- 1Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Matej Bel University, Tajovského 40, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, 97401
Abstract
Molecular fluorophores (MFs) are an integral part of many raw reaction mixtures prepared during the synthesis of carbon dots (CDs) from small organic molecules by the bottom-up methods. Despite their significant contribution to the luminescence of as-prepared CDs, the investigation of optical properties of MF is complicated by the pH dependence, possibility of formation of tautomers, low yields and complicated isolation. In this review, we summarize the structure of MFs detected in CDs prepared from citric acid (and various dopants), whose structure contains pyridin-2(1 H )-one ring annulated to 5- or 6-membered heterocycles. These compounds are closely related to citrazinic acid (CZA). The second part of the review deals with the alternative synthesis pathways towards ring-fused 2-pyridones, that could be used to prepare analogous compounds without the drawbacks related to the direct synthesis from CA (formation of carbonaceous matrix along with MFs resulting in low yields). MFs prepared by alternative pathways, free from polymerized and carbonized particles, could be used as standards towards better understanding of optical properties of CDs.
Related
- Tissues As a Synthetic Target – A Framework For the Multiscale Molecular Design Of Thermogelling Polymers
- Preparing State-Selected Molecular Beams with high Efficiency using Quantum Cascade Lasers
- Synthesis of azulene fluorophores reveals structure–property relationships
- Efficient Light‐Driven Multi‐Electron Accumulation on Viologens by Molecular Control Over Photochemical Reaction Pathways
- Resolving Spin-Phonon Relaxation Pathways in Molecular Qubits via Regularized Regression
BibTeX
@misc{sedlarik2026alternative,
title = {{Alternative synthetic pathways to selected molecular fluorophores present in citric acid-based carbon dots}},
author = {Alex Sedlařík and Jela Nociarová},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15009164/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009164/v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Alternative synthetic pathways to selected molecular fluorophores present in citric acid-based carbon dots
AU - Alex Sedlařík
AU - Jela Nociarová
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/21
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15009164/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009164/v1
AB - Molecular fluorophores (MFs) are an integral part of many raw reaction mixtures prepared during the synthesis of carbon dots (CDs) from small organic molecules by the bottom-up methods. Despite their significant contribution to the luminescence of as-prepared CDs, the investigation of optical properties of MF is complicated by the pH dependence, possibility of formation of tautomers, low yields and complicated isolation. In this review, we summarize the structure of MFs detected in CDs prepared from citric acid (and various dopants), whose structure contains pyridin-2(1 H )-one ring annulated to 5- or 6-membered heterocycles. These compounds are closely related to citrazinic acid (CZA). The second part of the review deals with the alternative synthesis pathways towards ring-fused 2-pyridones, that could be used to prepare analogous compounds without the drawbacks related to the direct synthesis from CA (formation of carbonaceous matrix along with MFs resulting in low yields). MFs prepared by alternative pathways, free from polymerized and carbonized particles, could be used as standards towards better understanding of optical properties of CDs.
ER -