Polarized Naphthalimide CH Donors Enhance Cl– Binding within an Aryl-Triazole Receptor

The dipolar character of 1,8-naphthalimide together with polarization of the C4–H and C5–H donors has been utilized in receptor 1 to effectively bind chloride alongside triazole and phenylene units. The Cl– binding strength of 1 shows that the naphthalimide provides greater anion stabilization than an unactivated phenylene, and DFT calculations show that its collinear donor array can be a “urea-like” analog for CH···anion interactions.