Selective Anion Sensing by Chiral Macrocyclic Receptors with Multiple Hydrogen-Bonding Sites

Chiral macrocycles
featuring sulfonamide and/or amide groups as
anion-binding sites were synthesized. X-ray crystal structures and
DFT calculations have shown that they adopt different conformations
that may lead to unique binding behavior. Indeed, various anions could
be sensed by their colorimetric and/or fluorescence signal output.
The chiral macrocycles showed chiral recognition for chiral anions.
Furthermore, a multisensor array with two or four chiral receptors
discriminated seven phosphate anions (AMP, ADP, ATP, CMP, GMP, Pi,
and PPi) with 100% classification accuracy.