Ditopic Macrocyclic Receptors with a 4,7-Diamino-1,10-phenanthroline Fragment for Multimodal Detection of Toxic Metal Ions.

A series of ditopic macrocyclic receptors with variable cavity sizes, containing nitrogen or mixed (nitrogen-oxygen) donor sites and an externally directed 1,10-phenanthroline fragment, were prepared by means of a palladium-catalyzed amination reaction. A ditopic mixed NO-ligand (4 a) was coordinated to [Ru(bpy) ] (bpy=2,2'-bipyridine) to prepare a luminescent and chromogenic complex, [Ru(bpy) (4 a)][PF] , which provided the selective dual-channel detection of Cu ions.