A phenylhydrazone-based indole receptor for sensing acetate

A novel phenylhydrazone-based indole anion receptor is synthesized by a simple method, and the receptor binds acetate anions with good selectivity in DMSO solution, which is related to the structure of the receptor matching with the anion. The binding properties of the host are examined by UV–vis changes. The color changes of the host upon the addition of a variety of structurally different anions were also utilized as nake-eyed recognization (from orange to purple, first figure), The hydrogen bonds between recognization sites (phenylhydrazone and indole N–H) and anions were determined on the basis of 1H NMR experiments.