A copperohydrogel as a chemosensor for selective detection of oxometalate anions in water

Abstract

A copperohydrogel prepared by an easy method from the 4′-(3,4-dimethoxy-phenyl)-[2,2′;6′,2′′]terpyridine ligand and Cu²⁺ ion is shown to act as a highly efficient and selective naked eye sensor for biologically relevant tetrahedral oxometalate anions such as molybdate, tungstate and vanadate over simple anions as well as oxoanions such as halide, nitrate, nitrite and phosphate in water.