Head‐to‐Tail Intermolecular Hydrogen Bonding of OH and NH Groups with Fluoride

To explore the anion‐recognition ability of the phenolic hydroxyl group and the amino hydrogen, we synthesized three different acridinedione (ADD) based anion receptors, 1 , 2 and 3 , having OH, NH, and combination of OH and NH groups, respectively. Absorption, emission and 1 H NMR spectral studies revealed that receptor 1 , having only a phenolic OH group, shows selective deprotonation of the hydroxyl proton towards F − , which results in an “ON–OFF”‐type signal in the fluorescence spectral studies. Receptor 2 , which only has an amino hydrogen, also shows deprotonation of the amino hydrogen with F − , whereas receptor 3 (having both OH and NH groups) shows head‐to‐tail intermolecular hydrogen bonding of OH and NH groups with F − prior to deprotonation. The observation of hydrogen bonding of the OH and NH groups in a combined solution of 1 and 2 with F − in a head‐to‐tail hetero‐intermolecular fashion, and the absence of head‐to‐head and tail‐to‐tail intermolecular hydrogen bonding in 1 and 2 with F − , prove that the difference in the acidity of the OH and NH protons leads to the formation of an intermolecular hydrogen‐bonding complex with F − prior to deprotonation. The presence of this hydrogen‐bonding complex was confirmed by absorption spectroscopy, 3D emission contour studies, and 1 H NMR titration.