A steroid–coumarin conjugate for cascade recognition of copper ion and dihydrogen phosphate: Microstructural features and IMPLICATION logic gate properties

A fluorescent probe 1 based on deoxycholic acid-coumarin was synthesized, and its cascade recognition for Cu2+ ion, H2PO4− ion, and amino acids were investigated by spectroscopic techniques and microstructural features, respectively. It exhibits the high selectivity toward Cu2+ ion by forming a 1:2 complex with 1,2,3-triazole motif as the binding sites, and the resulting [1·Cu2+] complex shows the turn-on recognition ability in fluorescence for H2PO4− ion and amino acids. Consequently, an IMPLICATION (IMP) logic gate has been generated by using Cu2+ ion and H2PO4− ion as inputs and the emission of 1 as the output signal, respectively. This research may enrich the field of multi-functional chemosensors in natural products.

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