Imidazolium Based Probes for Recognition of Biologically and Medically Relevant Anions

Abstract The imidazolium derivatives due to their positive charge possess one of the most polarized and positively charged proton at C2‐H to form strong ionic hydrogen bond (also termed as double ionic hydrogen bond) with anions and also provide opportunities for anion – π interactions with electron‐deficient imidazolium ring. In the present review article, imidazolium based molecular probes for their ability to recognize inorganic anions like halides, cyanide, perchlorate, carboxylic acids, phosphate, sulfate etc. and their derived molecules viz. nucleotides, DNA, RNA, surfactants, proteins, etc have been discussed. The review covers the literature published after year 2009 and has > 130 references. The previous literature has already been discussed by Yoon et al. in two review articles published in Chem. Soc. Rev. 2006 and 2010.