Fluorine-based Zn salan complexes.

We synthesised and characterised the racemic and chiral versions of two Zn salan fluorine-based complexes from commercially available materials. The complexes are susceptible to absorbing H 2 O from the atmosphere. In solution (DMSO-H 2 O) and at the millimolar level, experimental and theoretical studies identify that these complexes exist in a dimeric-monomeric equilibrium. We also investigated their ability to sense amines via 19 F NMR. In CDCl 3 or d 6 -DMSO, strongly coordinating molecules (H 2 O or DMSO) are the limiting factor in using these easy-to-make complexes as chemosensory platforms since their exchange with analytes requires an extreme excess of the latter.