Two propeller-shaped
chiral CoIII
3YIII complexes built
from fluorinated ligands are synthesized and characterized
by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SXRD), IR, UV–vis, circular
dichroism (CD), elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA),
electron spray ionization mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS), and NMR (1H, 13C, and 19F). This work explores
the sensing and discrimination abilities of these complexes, thus
providing an innovative sensing method using a 19F NMR
chemosensory system and opening new directions in 3d/4f chemistry.
Control experiments and theoretical studies shed light on the sensing
mechanism, while the scope and limitations of this method are discussed
and presented.