Signalling Mechanisms in Anion-Responsive Push-Pull Chromophores: The Hydrogen-Bonding, Deprotonation and Anion-Exchange Chemistry of Functionalized Azo Dyes

A family of azo dyes containing amide (1), urea (2), thiourea (3), carbamate (4) or amino (5) hydrogen-bond donating groups were synthesized and their response toward anions was studied. Acetonitrile solutions of 1–5 show bright yellow colours, due to charge-transfer bands in the 375–400 nm region, slightly modulated by the electron donor strength of the group attached to the 4′ end of the 4-nitroazobenzene scaffold. Anions of different shape and size (i.e., spherical F–,Cl–, Br– and I–, planar and tetrahedral oxoanions such as NO3–, H2PO4– and HSO4–, carboxylates such as acetate and benzoate and the linear anions cyanide and thiocyanate) were employed in the recognition studies. Two different effects were distinguished: (i) bathochromic shifts of <40 nm to pale orange, due to anion coordination, and (ii) strong red shifts of ca. 200 nm with a concomitant colour change to blue, due to deprotonation. This behaviour was explained as a balance between the deprotonation tendency of the binding sites in the different receptors and the proton affinities of the anions. Semiempirical calculations were carried out to evaluate the hydrogen bond-donating abilities of the anions and the dyes and a good correlation with the experimentally found values was observed. Stability constants for the receptor–anion complexes were determined spectrophotometrically and the different responses toward fluoride and acetate were assessed by NMR titration experiments. Finally, as a special case, we also report the use of this family of compounds as colorimetric carbon dioxide sensors through reaction with the unprotonated forms of the azo dyes. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2007)