Optical sensing of anions using C3v-symmetric tripodal receptors

Abstract The ubiquitous nature of anions has gained a bourgeoning interest among the supramolecular chemists to develop artificial receptors for the selective recognition and sensing of bioactive anions. Many excellent linear, dipodal, tripodal and multipodal anion receptors have been reported in the last two decades to recognize and detect anions of diverse geometry selectively. This review was narrated with the aim to summarize the C 3v -symmetric tripodal receptors reported for the chromogenic and fluorogenic sensing of anions using various flexible and rigid tripodal frameworks. Sensing mechanisms like ICT, PET, excimer-monomer formation, push-pull, rigidity effect etc., and the design concepts applied for the development of tripodal anion sensors have been discussed.