A modular ligand design for cation sensors: phosphorus-supported pyrene-containing ligands as efficient Cu(II) and Mg(II) sensors

A modular ligand design allowed the assembly of four phosphorus-supported pyrene-containing ligands. The number of pyrene arms could be varied from 1 to 6 depending on the phosphorus support. While ligands containing one and three pyrene arms are excellent fluorescence-based sensors of Cu2+, the ligand containing two pyrene arms shows a high specificity for Mg2+.