A new poly(arylene ether) (PAET) with terpyridine substituent groups has been synthesized which shows a turn-off fluorescent response in the presence of Ni(2+) over other cations and allows discrimination of these cations from each other on the basis of the extent of quenching.

We report here the first gold-catalyzed nitrene transfer reaction. A gold(I) compound, supported by 4,4',4' '-tri-tert-butyl-2,2':6',2' '-terpyridine (tBu3tpy) as the ligand, efficiently catalyzes olefin aziridination with the use of the commercially available oxidant PhI(OAc)2 and sulfonamides. This system also mediates carbene insertion into benzene.

Permanently interlocked [2]rotaxane ligands can be created by capping a pyridine terminated [2]pseudorotaxane with terpyridine containing stoppers. The robust nature of the resulting [2]rotaxane ligand allows coordination to inert metals such as Ru(II) not possible under standard self-assembly conditions.

A terpyridine-based receptor featuring two [9]aneN(3) units is able to selectively bind and sense diphosphate over mono- and triphosphate in aqueous solution at pH 7, thanks to the conformational change of its structure induced by Zn(2+) coordination to the polypyridyl moiety.

This report describes the dimerisation of glutathione, and by extension, other cysteine-containing peptides or protein fragments, with a 5, 5'-disubstituted-2, 2'-bipyridine or 6, 6"-disubstituted-2, 2':6',2"-terpyridine unit. The resulting bipy-GS2 and terpy-GS2 were investigated as potential metal ion dependent switches in aqueous solution, and were found to predominantly adopt the transoïd c...

A new ligand containing tetraphenylethylene and terpyridine moieties, and its zinc ion complex were synthesized. Both of them exhibit an aggregation-induced emission effect. Their colors and emissions can be smartly switched by various external stimuli including grinding, heating and solvent-fuming, as well as exposure to acid and base vapors.

A family of terpyridine metallo-organic complexes has been designed and its recognition properties of G-quadruplex-DNA investigated. The series combines easy synthetic access and good affinity-selectivity ratio for quadruplex-DNA. Our study also highlights that the geometry of the metal center strongly governs the ability of the compounds to discriminate quadruplex from duplex-DNA.

A pyrene-terpyridine-Zn conjugate has been synthesized and characterized, where Zn2+ acts as an electron acceptor to enhance molecular ICT with a large emission red-shift (>100 nm). It showed a ratiometric fluorescence change upon addition of phosphate anions in buffered aqueous solution. The selective response to phosphates or pyrophosphates involved ICT and ligand competition processes.