Stabilization of molecular LiF, LiFHF, and Na2SiF6 using metallamacrocyclic hosts

The molecular forms of LiF, LiFHF and Na2SiF6 have been stabilized using trinuclear metallamacrocyclic complexes of (cymene)Ru-II, (Cp*)Rh-III and (Cp*)Ir-III as specific receptors. The host-guest complexes were characterized by NMR spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Based on these results, a highly selective chemosensor for fluoride anions has been developed.