Cationic recognition by tert-butylcalix[4]arene-functionalized nanoprobesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c0cp02658a

• Main Authors: Yan, Hong, Luo, Jin, Xie, Hong-Ming, Xie, De-Xun, Su, Qiong, Yin, Jun, Wanjala, Bridgid N, Diao, Han, An, De-Lie, Zhong, Chuan-Jian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1463-9076; 1463-9084
• DOI: 10.1039/c0cp02658a

A nanoparticle-based strategy has been demonstrated using structurally-tailored tert- butylcalixarenes immobilized on gold nanoparticles to tune the guest access to the calixarene cone cavity for cationic recognition. This strategy exploits the interparticle charge-induced aggregation upon selective capture of metal cations into the nanoparticle-immobilized tert- butylcalixarenes, which produces calorimetric changes for the detection. A possible pathway for the binding of M n + into the t- BCA structure and the interparticle interaction is proposed for the formation of an electric double layer inducing the interparticle association responsible for the red-shifted surface plasmon resonance band of the nanoparticles. The value of this class of calorimetric nanoprobes will be in the area of designing advanced host - guest probes using a variety of calixarene ligands for ionic recognition in a simplistic detection format. Gold nanoparticles capped with tert- butylcalixarenes with tunable attachment groups function as an optical nanoprobe for ionic recognition.