A new terpyrrolic analogue of dipyrrolylquinoxalines: an efficient optical-based sensor for anions in organic media

The synthesis and X-ray structural characterization of a new terpyrrolic analog of dipyrrolylquinoxaline (DPQ) is described that contains two pyrrole anion recognition groups bridged by a central 1,2-linked pyrrole. Relative to the ‘parent’ DPQ system, this new terpyrrolic scaffold acts as an improved colorimetric and fluorescent sensor for halide and dihydrogen phosphate anions in organic media. This enhancement is particularly dramatic in the case of H₂PO₄⁻ (studied as its tetrabutylammonium salt); in CH₂Cl₂ it is bound with an affinity constant, K, of 17,500 M⁻¹ by the terpyrrole of this report vs. 80 M⁻¹ in the case of DPQ. The present findings thus support the emerging notion that a range of pyrrole-based anion recognition and sensing systems may be produced by replacing the central quinoxaline spacer in DPQs by other bridging subunits and that these new receptors may have properties that differ dramatically from their DPQ ‘parents’.