A benzthiazole-based simple receptor in fluorescence sensing of biotin ester and urea

A benzthiazole-based receptor 1 has been designed and synthesized for recognition of biotin ester and urea in CHCl3 containing 1% CH3CN. The receptor binds biotin methyl ester and urea with moderate binding constant values and shows significant increase in emission of benzthiazole motif. The emission characteristics of 1 upon complexation clearly distinguishes biotin methyl ester and urea from thiourea and N,N′-dimethylurea. Characterization and sensing properties of the receptor 1 were evaluated by 1H NMR, UV–vis, and fluorescence spectroscopic methods.