TTFV molecular tweezers with phenylboronic acid and phenylboronate endgroups: modular synthesis and electrochemical responses to saccharides and fluoride ion

Tweezer-like molecular systems containing a redox-active tetrathiafulvalene vinylogue (TTFV) unit and two phenylboronate or phenylboronic acid endgroups were synthesized via the Cu-catalyzed alkyne azide coupling (i.e., click) reaction. The TTFV-phenylboronic acid derivative was found to show different differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) responses to various monosaccharides in aqueous DMSO at pH 7.41, suggesting potential use in electrochemical sensing of saccharides. Moreover, the TTFV-phenylboronate derivative exhibited strong binding to the fluoride ion, giving rise to sensitive electrochemical detection of the fluoride ion.