LAUSR

AbstractTwo reduced Schiff bases, namely 5-[(2-hydroxybenzyl)amino]isophthalic acid (1) and 5-[(pyridin-4-ylmethyl)amino]isophthalic acid (2), were synthesized in two-step method using 5-aminoisophthalic acid as the starting material, and were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, infrared, 1H NMR, mass, absorption and fluorescence spectra. Both 1 and 2 crystallize in monoclinic system with space groups P21/c for 1 and P21/n for 2. Photophysical properties of both 1 and 2 are significantly different from those of raw material 5-aminoisophthalic acid due to stronger p → π conjugation when one amino hydrogen atom in 5-aminoisophthalic acid is substituted with electron-donor group. 1 displays a very strong narrow-band blue fluorescence with the maximum peak at 439 nm, a high quantum efficiency up to 64%, and a narrow full width at half maximum of 35 nm, while 2 has a broader and weaker fluorescence with the peak at 418 nm and FHWM of about 50 nm.Graphical AbstractTwo reduced Schiff bases with blue fluorescence were synthesized from 5-aminoisophthalic acid in two-step method including formation of the corresponding Schiff bases and further reduction by NaBH4.