A new thiacalix[4]arene based fluorescent sensor bearing two dansyl groups has been synthesized in cone conformation. In CH3CN:CH2Cl2(1:1), the presence of Cu (II) induces the formation of a 1:1 metal: ligand complex, which exhibits increasing emission at 433 nm at the expense of the fluorescent emission of 1 centered at 504 nm. The detection limit of the sensor for Cu2+ is 2 x 10(-7) mol L-1. For anion sensing, 1 shows a high selectivity for fluoride ions over other anions tested. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.