Triazole- and azo-coupled calix[4]arene as a highly sensitive chromogenic sensor for Ca and Pb ions

A novel chromogenic calix4]arene 3, which has within a molecule both the triazoles and the hydroxyl azophenols as the metal-binding sites and the azophenol moiety as a coloration sites was designed and synthesized. Calix4]arene 3 is highly sensitive to Ca²⁺ and Pb²⁺ ions, which can be detected by the naked eye. Furthermore, the association constants for the 1:1 complexes of 3·Ca²⁺ and 3·Pb²⁺ were determined to be 7.06 × 10⁴ M⁻¹ and 8.57 × 10³ M⁻¹, respectively.