Anion sensing with chemosensors having multiple –NH recognition units

Abstract

The pursuit of efficient schemes for recognition of physiologically and environmentally important analytes has led to extensive development in the field of supramolecular chemistry. Among various analytes, anions play a fundamental role in many biological processes. However, designing of functional chemosensors for recognition of anions is a major challenge owing to different parameters such as larger size and varying geometries. This review is focused on the development of chemosensors containing NHbinding sites for application in anion sensing and discusses the variation in selectivity as a consequence of structural modification. The mechanism of action for recognition of different anions has also been provided.