We report sensing different polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with colloidal CdTe nanocrystals. The effect of molecular structure on quenching rate for 2-hyroxy-1-naphthaldehyde (2H-1N), 9,10-phenanthraquinone (PQ), 9-anthracenecarboxaldehyde (9-AC) and quinoline (Q) is presented. The quenching rate constants are observed to be strongly dependent on the molecular structure. PQ, consisting of two carbonyl groups, shows the highest rate constant while Q shows the worst one. Both static and dynamic quenching are simultaneously observed for PQ and 2H-1N. Therefore extended Stern-Volmer equations are used to calculate rate constants. Results showed that dynamic quenching is a dominant process. The rate constants for PQ, 2H-1N, 9-AC and Q are calculated to be 64.84, 10.73, 10.66 and 1.85 respectively. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.