Self-assembled cerium-based metal–organic tetrahedrons for selective recognition of natural saccharides

By incorporating the amide groups into building blocks, two M4L4 molecular tetrahedrons were designed and synthesized for selective recognition of natural saccharides. Tetrahedron Ce–TBSB showed fluorescent enhancement in the presence of natural monosaccharides, whereas the larger analogy Ce–TBAB having twelve additional free amide groups exhibited fantastically selective luminescent enhancement toward sucrose over other natural mono- and di-saccharides. The selective responses of the tetrahedrons thus should be attributed to both the size-fitting of the cavities and the potential hydrogen bond interaction of the amide groups.