A homochiral luminescent compound with four-fold symmetry as a potential chemosensor for nitroanilines

Abstract

A homochiral compound of a dansylated amino acid ligand, [Cu2(HTyr-N-Dan)4(H2O)2]·2H2O (1) (H2Tyr-N-Dan = N-dansyltyrosine), is synthesized and crystallographically characterized. Its supramolecular chain structure is formed via intermolecular hydrogen bonding between the phenolic and the sulfato groups of the ligand while the intra-ligand π-π interactions exist between the aromatic rings of the dansyl and the tyrosine moiety of the ligand. Utilizing the luminescent property, selective sensing of nitroanilines by both the ligand and 1 is demonstrated.