The curious case of salicylidene-based fluoride sensors: chemosensors or chemodosimeters or none of them.

Fluoride-ion induced hydrolysis of imine (C[double bond, length as m-dash]N) bonds has not been documented in the literature, in spite of the numerous salicylidene-based fluoride sensors studied over the years. Herein, we have proposed a mechanism for fluoride-ion induced hydrolysis of salicylidene compounds (SL and CL1-3) based on 1 H-NMR, 19 F-NMR, LC-MS and UV-vis spectroscopy experiments.