Synthesis, Characterization and Anion Recognition Performance of Anion Receptors Containing Ferrocene Structural Unit

By Steglich esterification reaction between the ferrocenecarboxylic acid and 2-hydroxy-3,6,7,10,11-pentahexyloxybenzophenanthrene, the anion receptor ferrocene carboxylic acid-3,6,7,10,11-pentahexyloxybenzophenanthrene (R2-1) containing ester group-ferrocene side chain was synthesized, and its structure was characterized by IR and ¹H-NMR. The interaction between R2-1 and the anion guest was studied by the electrochemical method. The results showed that R2-1 had a good recognition performance on H₂PO₄^-, AcO^- and F^- in acetonitrile and had obvious electrochemical signal. The combination of F^- and R2-1 mainly relied on electrostatic interaction; while the combination of AcO^- or H₂PO₄^- with R2-1 were affected by both hydrogen bond and electrostatic interaction. Among them, the coordination of AcO^- and R2-1 was dominated by electrostatic interaction, whereas the coordination of H₂PO₄^- and R2-1 was dominated by hydrogen bond.