Electrochemical discrimination of phthalic acid among three phthalic acid isomers based on an N-butylaminomethyl-ferrocene derivativeElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental section and the additional data described in the text. See DOI: 10.1039/c4cc01659a

A chemosensor compound ( 1 ) consisting of a central ferrocene with two butylaminomethyl arms showed unexpected facile electrochemical oxidation of the secondary amines in proximity to the ferrocene, which was utilized for electrochemical discrimination of phthalic acid selectively over two other isomers, isophthalic acid and terephthalic acid. We report a chemosensor for electrochemical discrimination of phthalic acid selectively among three phthalic acid isomers.