Thiazole-based chemosensor II: synthesis and fluorescence sensing of fluoride ions based on inhibition of ESIPT

Novel chemosensors based on 2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)-4-phenylthiazole were synthesized and their anion sensing behaviors were investigated. Sensors 1 and 2 show fluoride ion selective behaviors related to their absorption and emission spectra amongst F^?, CH₃CO₂ ^?, H₂PO₄ ^?, Cl^?, Br^?, I^?, ClO₄ ^?, NO₃ ^?, and HSO₄ ^? anions. Sensor 2 shows color change upon interaction with F^?. Interactions of 1, 2 and 3 with F^? cause a red-shift in UV–vis absorption and a large Stokes shift in fluorescence emission due to the inhibition of ESIPT induced by the deprotonation of phenolic proton by F^?.     

5-(1H-Indol-3-yl)-pyrazolyl derivatives as colorimetric sensor for anions

The synthesis, characterisation and binding and deprotonation studies with anions for four 5-(1H-indol-3-yl)-pyrazolyl derivatives (2–5) have been described. It is worthy to mention that sensor 2 shows a drastic change in absorption spectrum (ca. 335 nm) and colour (colourless to blue) upon addition of F^? in DMSO solution due to the deprotonation of indole –NH proton, as confirmed by ¹H NMR titration. Sensor 4 recognizes F^? and CN^? ions by deprotonation mechanism with visible colour change of the solution in a similar manner to that of 2. However, in contrary to 2 and 4, sensor 3 binds with F^?, CN^?, H₂PO₄ ^?, AcO^? and PhCOO^? ions exploiting hydrogen-bonding interaction with the shifting of absorption band to longer wavelength and subsequent colour change of the solution. Compound 5 recognizes F^? without any visual colour change and its binding is studied by ¹H NMR titration to acquire the important information about the nature of binding between F^? and 5.     

Study by fluorescence of calix[4]arenes bearing heterocycles with anions: highly selective detection of iodide

The present work describes a study of complexation efficiency of calix[4]arenes bearing benzoimidazolyl, benzothiazolyl, and benzoxazolyl heterocycles (5–7) towards several anions. The binding ability of calixarene derivatives 5–7 towards selected anions of different molecular geometries such as: F^?, HSO₄ ^?, I^?, N₃ ^?, NO₃ ^?, NO₂ ^?, SCN^?, ClO₄ ^?, Br^?, CN^?, Cl^?, CH₃COO^? CF₃SO₃ ^? in methanol, has been investigated by fluorescence spectroscopic techniques, all anions were used as tetrabutylammonium salts to avoid possible complexation of cationic species by the derivative calix[4]arenes. Fluorescent chemosensor ability of these three calixarene derivatives was highly selective for iodide in contrast with other anions studied. The best chemosensor found, corresponds to compound 7, with an association constant of 2.01 × 10⁴ mol^?1 L and a detection limits of 0.22 ppm for iodide.     

meso-Indanyl calix[4]pyrrole receptors

Two new meso-indanyl-substituted calix[4]pyrrole receptors, 2 and 3, have been synthesized. A range of calix[4]pyrrole host-neutral molecule complexes crystallise from solutions of 2 in a variety of solvents and the structures of four have been elucidated by X-ray crystallography. The F⁻ and Cl⁻ anion affinities of 2 have been measured in acetonitrile, and are significantly different from the corresponding affinities of the prototypical calix[4]pyrrole, the octamethyl-derivative, 1. ESI-FTICR-MS has been used to determine the relative F⁻ and Cl⁻ anion affinities of receptors 1 and 2 in methanol-acetonitrile solution. Deprotonation of 1 and 2 by fluoride is observed (under the conditions of the MS experiment).     

Triphenylamine-based simple chemosensor for selective fluorometric detection of fluoride, acetate and dihydrogenphosphate ions in different solvents

Triphenylamine-based new chemosensors 1 and 2 have been designed and synthesized for fluorometric detection of anions. The urea-amide conjugates in 1 and 2 are involved in binding of anions via hydrogen bonding. UV?Cvis and fluorescence titration experiments revealed that the sensor 1 has the selectivity for acetate (AcO^?), dihydrogenphosphate (H₂PO₄ ^?) and fluoride (F^?) over the other anions examined in the present study, in CHCl₃. In comparison, receptor 2 is non responsive for the same anions under similar conditions. In more polar solvent CH₃CN containing 0.1% DMSO, the receptor 1 shows a greater selectivity towards fluoride. The color of the solution of 1 is changed from colorless to light yellow and finally to yellowish brown only in the presence of fluoride in CH₃CN containing 10% DMSO. In pure DMSO and CH₃CN solvents, almost colorless solution of 1 is transformed into blood red and reddish brown in the presence of 30 equivalent amounts of F^?, respectively.     

Fluoride sensing with a PCT-based calix[4]arene

Novel calix[4]arene-based anion sensor 1 with two coumarin units attached via amido functions acting also as binding sites is presented. Complexation of F⁻ by PCT-based 1 causes selectively red-shift in UV-vis absorption and in fluorescence emission due to H-bonding followed by deprotonation of NH-amide groups.     

Anion Binding Properties of N-Confused Porphyrins at the Peripheral Nitrogen

Ni(II), Pd(II), and Cu(II) complexes of N-confused porphyrin (NCP) exhibit anion binding properties through a hydrogen bonding interaction at the peripheral NH of confused pyrrole ring. The binding constants of the tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)-NCP metal complexes (1-M, M= Ni, Pd, Cu) for various halide anions in CH₂C1₂ increase in the order of F^? > Cl^? > Br^? > I^?, respectively. Zwitterionic resonance form of the NCP complexes as well as interactions between halide anions and a pentafluorophenyl group are suggested to be important for efficient anion binding.     

Study on the selectivity of anion receptors by adjusting the distance of two urea fragments and their analytical application

Three anion receptors based on urea: 1 N, N??-bis-(p-nitrophenylaminocarbonyl)-Hydrazine, 2 N, N??-bis-(p-nitrophenylaminocar-bonyl)-ethylenediamine and 3 N, N??-bis-(p-nitrophenylaminocarbonyl)-1, 3-propane-diamine are designed and synthesized. Studies of UV?Cvis spectra presented that 1 was an excellent sensor of F^? and 2 was sensitive to H₂PO₄ ^?. Unfortunately, 3 can not distinguish the anions investigated in this paper. The color changes of the hosts upon the addition of a variety of structurally different anions were also utilized as naked-eye detection which is very convenient. It also revealed significantly that the distance between two recognition sites of receptor had an immediate effect on the selectivity of receptor for anions, which had been confirmed by the ¹H NMR titration and IR.     

Synthesis and oxoanions (dichromate/arsenate) sorption study of N-methylglucamine derivative of calix[4]arene immobilized onto poly[(phenyl glycidyl ether)-co-formaldehyde]

The article describes synthesis as well as the evaluation of sorption properties of new N-methylglucamine substituted calix[4]arene and its poly[(phenyl glycidyl ether)-co-formaldehyde] immobilized product. Firstly, 5,17-bis-[(N-methylglucamine)methyl]-25,26,27,28-tetrahydroxy-calix[4]arene (3) was synthesized by the treatment of calix[4]arene with a secondary amine N-methylglucamine and formaldehyde via Mannich reaction. The immobilization of 3 onto poly[(phenyl glycidyl ether)-co-formaldehyde] to form calixarene based polymer (4) was carried out under suitable reaction conditions via nucleophilic substitution reaction. All the new compounds were characterized by a combination of FT-IR, ¹H-NMR spectroscopic and elemental analysis techniques. The sorption studies of 4 reveal that it is an excellent material for the removal of toxic oxoanions especially arsenate from aqueous environment. To understand the selectivity of 4, we also examined the retention of dichromate anions in the presence of Cl^?, NO₃ ^? and SO₄ ^2? anions at pH 1.5.     

A theoretical investigation of intermolecular interaction of a phthalimide based “on–off” sensor with different halide ions: tuning its efficiency and electro-optical properties

The interaction between chemosensor, N-(2-methyl-1,3-dioxo-indan-5-yl)-benzamide (1) and different halide ions (F ^? , Cl^? and Br^?) has been investigated using density functional theory (DFT). A clear insight of the sensor anion binding process has been presented. Our calculations revealed that the observed colorimetric and fluorescent signals are induced due to the ground state deprotonation of the sensor molecule caused by F^? which has two times higher binding affinity than other halide ions (Cl^? and Br^?). Derivatives of system 1 have been made to find a better sensor with higher binding affinity and longer wavelength of absorption. All the derivatives are better sensors than the parent 1 except 4-methyl-N-(2-methyl-1,3-dioxo-indan-5-yl)-benzamide (2). Among these derivatives, trimethyl-[4-(2-methyl-1,3-dioxo-indan-5-ylcarbamoyl)-phenyl]-ammonium (8) and (5-benzoylamino-1,3-dioxo-indan-2-yl)-trimethyl-ammonium (9) showed a change to higher binding energies of about 58 Kcal/mol and longer absorption wavelengths of 53 nm after deprotonation process than the parent system 1 which is highly demanded in selective chemical sensing. Systems 8, 9 and their deprotonated zwitterionic forms (8z and 9z) have also been studied for their nonlinear optical responses. Systems 8, 9 showed significantly good first hyperpolarizability (β) of 84 × 10^?30 and 40 × 10^?30 esu, respectively. These β values increase in zwitterionic states up to 216 × 10^?30 and 109 × 10^?30 esu, respectively after deprotonation with F^?, representing a new signal of deprotonation.     

Biaryl-based anion receptors bearing thiourea groups: fluoride anion receptor

The synthesis, characterization and binding studies with anions for biaryl-based anion receptors bearing thiourea groups have been described. The results revealed that receptors (1 and 2) showed good selectivity and binding affinity for F^?, and among them binaphthyl-based receptor (1a) showed the best binding affinity for F^? in comparison to other tested anions (Cl^?, Br^?, I^?, $ {\text{NO}}_{3}^{ - } ,\;{\text{HSO}}_{4}^{ - } , $ AcO^? and $ {\text{H}}_{2} {\text{PO}}_{4}^{ - } $ ). This is probably due to the fact that the moderate rigidity of binaphthyl skeleton in 1a is able to provide the better geometry of two thiourea groups for incorporating F^? into the binding pocket. The higher basicity of F^? also participated in this selectivity.     

Anion binding properties of indolylmethanes

The anion binding properties of the indolylmethanes (1) were investigated by ¹H-NMR spectroscopy in CDCl₃. Tris(3-methylindol-2-yl)methane (1a) selectively bound a chloride anion the over other tested anions (Br^?, I^?, HSO ₄ ^? , and NO ₃ ^? ). In contrast, analogous compounds, phenyl bis(3-methylindol-2-yl)methane (1b), 2-hydroxyphenyl bis(3-methylindol-2-yl)methane (1c), tri(indol-3-yl)methane (1d), and phenyl di(indol-2-yl)methane (1e), showed a low anion binding ability and selectivity. These results indicate that the number and a position of the binding sites (indole NH protons) of the indolylmethanes are important factors for the formation of the complex with an anion. The high binding ability and selectivity of 1a toward a chloride anion is attributed to the proper size of the binding pocket for a chloride anion and the formation of multiple hydrogen bonds between the three indole NH protons and a chloride anion. The anion affinity of 1a was significantly affected by the cation component of quaternary ammonium salts, indicating that it is ion pair binding and not solely anion binding.     

Selective “naked-eye” sensing of acetate ion based on conformational flexible amide-pyridinium receptor

A simple pincer-shape anion receptor L1 containing amide-pyridinium as binding unit was synthesized and its anion binding properties were investigated by UV–Vis, NMR titration spectra and molecular simulation. L1 displayed better affinity toward AcO^? ion with visible color change compared with other investigated anions, including F^?, H₂PO₄ ^?, Cl^?, Br^?, I^?, NO₃ ^? and HSO₄ ^? ions. The selectivity was ascribed to the synergistic effects arising from hydrogen bonding, electrostatic interaction and induced-fit process.     

Pyrrolamidocalix[4]arenes: new receptors for anion recognition

Pyrrolamidocalix[4]arenes 1-4, members of a new class of anion receptors bearing pyrrolic units at the upper rim of calix[4]arene macrocycle, have been readily synthesized in good yields. Derivatives 1 and 3, with unsubstituted pyrrole units, show a good selectivity for over F⁻ and AcO⁻, while the presence of electron-withdrawing NO₂ substituents in 2 and 4 inverts the selectivity favoring more basic AcO⁻ and F⁻. In addition, it is demonstrated that the flexibility of calix[4]arene skeleton, present in 1 but absent in 3, is very important in the fitting process that leads the amidopyrrole moieties to wrap the tetrahedral guest.     

Novel redox receptors for ion-pair and α-amino acid: synthesis and complexation properties of calix[4]arene derivatives bearing large conjugated ferrocene groups

By reacting calix[4]arene 1,3-bi-hydrazide derivative (2) with formacylferrocene in “1?+?2” condensation mode, novel calix[4]arene derivative bearing two conjugated ferrocene groups (3) was obtained in yield of 88%. By reacting 1,3-bi-substituted [2-(p-formylphenyloxy)ethyloxy]-p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene (5) with 1,1′-diacetylferrocene hydrazone (4) in “1?+?1” condensation mode, novel calix[4]arene derivative with 1,3-substituted large conjugated ferrocene bridge (6) was synthesized in yield of 83%. The structures and conformations of new compounds were confirmed by elemental analyses, IR spectra, ESI-MS, ¹H NMR, etc. The electrochemical cyclic voltammetry experiments revealed that compounds 3 and 6 possessed excellent reversible electrochemical properties. The ¹H NMR titration study showed that compound 6 possessed excellent complexation abilities for NaH₂PO₄ and glycine in 1:1 host–guest complex with the association constants of 3,850 and 2,460?M^?1, respectively.     

Syntheses of novel calix[4]arene hydrazone-based receptors and their cooperative complexation with soft and hard metal ions

Four novel calix[4]arene hydrazone-based receptors 3a?Cd were prepared in yields of 69?C87% by condensating formylated calix[4]arene ester (2) with salicylyl hydrazine, 2,4-dinitrophenyl hydrazine, nicotinyl hydrazine or phenyl thiosemicarhazide, respectively. New compounds were characterized through elemental analysis, IR, ESI?CMS, ¹H NMR studies. Compounds 3a?Cd containing two binding sites had the complexation abilities for hard and soft cations concurrently. The noncompetitive extracting experiments showed compounds 3a?Cd were excellent receptors for hard and soft metal cations. The competitive extracting experiments exhibited the cooperative complexation in binding hard and soft metal cations and compound 3a possessed outstanding selectivity for Na⁺ and Hg²⁺. The IR spectra of compound 3a before and after complexation revealed that the soft metal cation was binded in the cavity composed of hydrazone groups and azo groups at the upper rims of calix[4]arene units and hard metal cations was binded in cavity composed of ester groups and phenolic hydroxyl groups at the lower rims of calix[4]arene units.     

A reversible fluorescent chemosensor for Fe~(3+) and H_2PO_4~- with “on-off-on” switching in aqueous media

To realize highly selective relay recognition of Fe3+ and H2PO4- ions, a simple benzimidazole-based fluorescent chemosensor(L) was designed and synthesized. Sensor L displays rapid, highly selective, and sensitive recognition to Fe3+ in H2O/DMSO(1:1, v/v) solutions. The in situ-generated L-Fe3+ complex solution exhibits a fast response and high selectivity toward dihydrogen phosphate anion via the Fe3+ displacement approach. The detection limits of sensor L to Fe3+ and L-Fe3+complex to H2PO4- anion were estimated to be 1.0 × 10-9 mol/L. Notably, the sensor was retrievable to indicate dihydrogen phosphate anions with Fe3+, and H2PO4-, in turn, increased. This successive recognition feature of sensor L makes it a potential utility for Fe3+ and H2PO4- anion detection in aqueous media.     

The synthesis and anions complexation property of novel biscalixarene: dumbbell shaped biscalix[4]-1,3-aza-crown

By reacting calix[4]-1,3-aza-crown 2 with 1,6-diisocyanatohexane in “1+2” condensation mode, the first example dumbbell shaped biscalix[4]-1,3-aza-crown 3 was conveniently prepared in yield of 94%. The complexation properties of compound 3 were investigated by UV–vis spectra and ¹H NMR experiments. The results showed that compound 3 has good complexation abilities for anions. Compound 3 binded monoacidic anions with 1:2 binding-stoichiometry and binded binary acidic anions with 1:1 binding-stoichiometry.     

F− Preference of Polyamide Cryptand to Cl−

The variations in geometry structure, IR spectra, as well as the molecular orbitals upon anion recognition for polyamide cryptand are explored with the hybrid density functional theory. The cavity generated by six amide NH groups shrinks upon F ^? recognition because of the strong hydrogen bonds between the amide protons and F ^? , while the cavity expands upon Cl ^? binding because of the strong electron repulsion between the p electron of Cl ^? and the lone pair electrons of the nitrogen atom of the pyridine moieties. The “electropositive field space” …Cl ^? coupling exists when Cl ^? is recognized. The strong anion binding energy with F ^? indicates that the polyamide cryptand prefers F ^? to Cl ^? .     

Synthesis and evaluation of novel 1,3-bridged calix[4]arene-crown ethers for selective interaction with Na+/K+ cations

Calix[4]arenes possessing electron-donating groups (OH and OR) at the lower rim when reacted with tosylated polyethers under basic conditions give the corresponding 1,3-disubstituted calix[4]arene-crown ethers 2a–2h, in good yields. The binding properties of the synthesized 1,3-bridged calix[4]arene-crown ethers for alkali metal cations have been investigated by atomic emission spectrometric analysis. It has been observed that recognition of sodium and potassium varies with the size of the polyether chain as well as the substituents on the free phenolics of the calix[4]arene-crown ether. The potassium/sodium selectivity seems to be governed primarily by the size of the crown ring, relative hydrophobicity and cation-π interaction capability to give efficiency order as 2a, 2d?>?2?h?>?2c, 2e?>?2b, 2f?>?2?g.