Boehmite nanoparticles with covalently linked polyamine chains functionalized with naphthalene fluorophores have been prepared and characterized. The characterization of the materials by elemental microanalysis, X-ray powder diffraction, MAS 29Si NMR and electron microscopy unambiguously prove that the covalent anchorage had occurred. Steady-state fluorescence emission studies show that the luminescent properties of the modified nanoparticles are sensitive to changes in concentration of hydrogen ions, metal ions and anionic nucleotides such as ATP. The behaviour of the attached materials in aqueous solution is parallel to the behaviour of the single fluorophoric polyamines. Comparisons are established with analogous systems containing indole as a fluorophore.