AbstractA series of water‐soluble spider‐like receptor molecules has been developed by the Schiff‐base condensation of tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (TRIS) with various 2,6‐diformylphenol (dfp) derivatives. The products were assessed for their anion sensing properties. Among these, the receptor with a methoxy substituent showed selective fluorescent sensing towards adenosine‐5′‐triphosphate (ATP) and cytidine‐5′‐triphosphate (CTP) in contrasting modes in 100 % aqueous media at pH 7.2.