An anthracene based bispyridinium amide receptor for selective sensing of anions

A new receptor has been designed and synthesized for selective recognition of anions through hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions. The recognition ability has been studied by fluorescence, UV–vis and 1H NMR spectroscopic methods. The results demonstrate that the receptor exhibits good recognition ability towards anions and shows strong binding to AcO−, H 2 PO 4 - and F−.