Polarized naphthalimide CH donors enhance Cl- binding within an aryl-triazole receptor.

The dipolar character of 1,8-naphthalimide together with polarization of the C(4)-H and C(5)-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.