Engineered organotin(IV) and vanadium(V) derivatives with distinct coordination modes and luminescent properties for the efficient detection and quantification of permanganate ions

The distinction in coordination modes of metal complexes leads to their versatile structural features and unique properties. Here, we report two tetradentate Schiff base ligands (H₂L¹ and H₂L²) bearing N₂O₂ donor sets, tactically selected to provide distinct coordination modes with different metal ions. The ligands were utilized to synthesize their organotin(IV) (1-4) and vanadium(V) (5) derivatives. The synthesized compounds were characterized using elemental analysis, FT-IR spectroscopy, multi-nuclei NMR (¹H, ¹³C, and ¹¹⁹Sn) spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The organotin(IV) derivatives (1-4) displayed hepta-coordination around both the Sn centres as they were achieved in their dimeric form. Contrariwise, the vanadium(V) compound (5) was isolated as a mononuclear entity exhibiting penta-coordinated geometry around the vanadium centre. The variation in the coordination modes was evident in their UV-vis and fluorescence spectra. The organotin(IV) compounds (1-4) exhibited a strong emission band centred at 468 nm when excited at a wavelength of 360 nm whereas the vanadium(V) (5) derivative displayed poor fluorogenic response. Compound 1 was further explored for the fluorogenic chemo-sensing of permanganate ions (MnO₄^-) amongst various anions by quenching response. A detailed investigation of the recognition of permanganate ions was accomplished by spectrofluorometric, spectroscopic (¹¹⁹Sn NMR), mass spectrometric, and computational studies.