Anion-Binding-Induced Electrochemical Signal Transduction in Ferrocenylimidazolium: Combined Electrochemical Experimental and Theoretical Investigation.

Five ferrocene alkymethylimidazolium cations ⁻ and with different alkyl spacer lengths were reinvestigated using voltammetry and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The voltammetric responses of ligand toward various anions are described in detail. An interesting and unprecedented finding from both experimental and theoretical studies is that coupled electron and intramolecular anion (F) transfer may be present in these molecules. In addition, it was also observed that, in these studied molecules, the electrostatic attraction interaction toward F would effectively vanish beyond 1 nm, which was previously reported only for cations.