Synthesis of bispyrenyl sugar-aza-crown ethers as new fluorescent molecular sensors for Cu(II)

J Org Chem. 2007 Aug 3;72(16):5980-5. doi: 10.1021/jo070315y. Epub 2007 Jul 12.

Abstract

Two N-pyrenylacetamide-substituted sugar-aza-crown ethers have been synthesized as new fluorescent chemosensors. The designed ligands 1 and 2 exhibit fluorescence characteristics of a pyrene monomer and a dynamic excimer emission when compared to N-pyrenylacetamide as a model compound. Both ligands displayed a Cu2+-sensitive fluorescence quenching with a 1:1 stoichiometry and high stability constants (log K = 6.7 for 1 and 7.8 for 2). The quenching effect was rationalized on the basis of photoinduced electron transfer from the excited pyrene to the complexed Cu2+ cation, while the changes in excimer-to-monomer ratio were explained by a conformational analysis through DFT calculations. The predicted structure suggests that the Cu2+ cation is coordinated with the two carbonyl groups and the sugar-aza-crown ethers which rigidified the complex structure and placed the two pyrene moieties far apart.

MeSH terms

  • Carbohydrates / chemistry*
  • Cations
  • Chemistry, Organic / methods*
  • Copper / chemistry*
  • Crown Ethers / chemistry*
  • Kinetics
  • Ligands
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Models, Chemical
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Conformation
  • Molecular Structure
  • Spectrometry, Fluorescence

Substances

  • Carbohydrates
  • Cations
  • Crown Ethers
  • Ligands
  • Copper