A new dinuclear ferrocene with amide–thiourea binding sites for dual electrochemical sensing to Hg(II) and anions

A new dinuclear ferrocene-base receptor bearing amide and thiourea binding sites, 1, was prepared and characterized by X-ray crystal structure analysis. This receptor shows a dual electrochemical sensing to Hg(II) and anions. Upon the addition of Hg(II), its redox potential shows a positive shift for the mercury-promoted intramolecular cyclic guanylation mechanism. In addition, 1 also shows distinctive electrochemical sensing to H2PO4− over other anions with a large negative shift of its redox potential for N–H…anion hydrogen bond interaction between anion and 1.