A new tetranaphthoimidazolium receptor was synthesized and reported to be a selective fluorescent chemosensor for phytate, myo-inositol hexakisphosphate (IP₆). In a 100% aqueous solution at pH 7.4, chemosensor 1 showed a selective fluorescence enhancement for IP6 over IP₃, phosphates, pyrophosphates, AMP, ADP and ATP. An excimer emission at 465 nm linearly increases in the range of 300 nM to 1 μM with a detection limit of 2.28 × 10⁻⁷ M. In addition, first live cell imaging of IP₆ has been demonstrated by using a synthetic receptor.