The development of new receptors which can recognize neutral and charged species has attracted considerable interest in the recent past.[1] Anions such as fluoride, chloride, phosphate and carboxylate play crucial roles in a range of biological phenomena and are implicated in many disease states.[2] Investigations on molecular and/or ionic recognition by calixarenes and their derivatives as synthetic receptors have attracted increasing attention in supramolecular chemistry because of their modifiable structure.[3] However, calix[4]arenes-based neutral receptors containing thiourea and amide groups are still rare. In this paper, we report fluoride selective optical chemosensors 4 and 5, based on calix[4]arene thiourea and amide derivatives, which only show a remarkable absorption change in the presence of fluoride ions, while have no any change upon addition of other anions (Cl- Br-, I-, AcO- and H2PO4-). The association constants are 947 and 2883 mol·L-1, respectively. The synthesis of calix[4]arene derivatives 4 and 5 is outlined in the following Scheme 1.……
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