Selective and Reusable Iron(II)-Based Molecular Sensor for the Vapor-Phase Detection of Alcohols

A mononuclear
iron­(II) neutral complex (1) is screened for sensing
abilities for a wide spectrum of chemicals and to evaluate the response
function toward physical perturbation like temperature and mechanical
stress. Interestingly, 1 precisely detects methanol among
an alcohol series. The sensing process is visually detectable, fatigue-resistant,
highly selective, and reusable. The sensing ability is attributed
to molecular sieving and subsequent spin-state change of iron centers,
after a crystal-to-crystal transformation.