Recent advances in 1,10-phenanthroline ligands for chemosensing of cations and anions

Abstract

This review encompasses and highlights recent developments of 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) ligands behaving as a customized moiety for assisting in recognition and sensing of cations and anions. Derivatization at various positions of phen (5,6-, 2,9-, 3,8- and 4,7-) results in ligands capable of acting as chemosensors for cations and anions. The perturbation induced in the energy levels of highly conjugated phen on substitution leads to detectable and measurable changes in the photophysical (UV-vis and fluorescence) properties of the system that serve as a tool for sensing cations and anions relevant to both environmental and biological systems. Hence phen yields a library of derivatized compounds which using the principles of coordination chemistry function as sensors for specific analytes (cations and anions). A database of various phenanthroline-derived receptors serving as chemosensors for various analytes in different solvents is presented and correlation of results can be used in the future for tuning photophysical properties, either by changing the substituted groups or their positions, so that the nearest desirable properties can be achieved for applications in biological and environmental sciences.