Three heterometallic Schiff-base complexes of Cu having Pr, Nd and Sm as the heteroatoms have been synthesized. The compounds have also been characterized by their IR spectra and CHN analysis. The single crystal structures of these compounds have been studied from the X-ray crystallographic data. To the best of our knowledge the article describes the possibility of application of these compounds in the field of species dependent anion sensing for the first time. Amongst a number of anionic species, certain sulphur species were found to have greater reactivity towards a Schiff-base complex as they can incur probable changes in the molecular complexity. The S2O82−and S2O32− species could modify the spectral features of the Schiff-base complex containing Nd as the heteroatom. This particular complex was found to exhibit changes in its absorbance and fluorescence spectral features upon interaction with the anionic species S2O82−and S2O32−. The results give a strong platform for the Schiff base complexes for their analytical applications.
