Colorimetric Receptors for the Detection of Biologically Important Anions and Their Application in Designing Molecular Logic Gate

Three new colorimetric receptors were synthesised for the detection of biologically important anions such as fluoride and acetate in the aqueous medium. All receptors showed significant colour change for F − and AcO − ions. The synthesised receptors were characterized by spectroscopic methods such as NMR techniques for structural confirmation. The UV‐vis and 1 H NMR titrations were performed to understand the binding mechanism of the receptors with F − and AcO − ions. Further, Job's plot was used to explore the stoichiometry between receptor and analyte. Besides, the visual and spectroscopic changes of receptor R1 upon the addition of F − ion was utilised to study the reversible behaviour by adding Cr 3+ ions. This concept was explored to mimic the logic gates at the molecular level with “set‐reset” Boolean operations as a proof of concept.