Rapid naked eye sensing of fluoride by calix[4]arene upper rim tetra functionalized pentafluorophenyl hydrazone†
Abstract
A neutral electron-deficient, pentafluorophenyl hydrazone-functionalized calix[4]arene, R, showed naked eye detection of fluoride among 19 anions. The formation of R + F− was evidenced by UV-vis, 1H & 19F NMR and ESI-MS studies. Variable temperature NMR studies revealed the formation of HF2−. DFT and TD-DFT studies demonstrate strong binding interactions between the R and F−.