Anion binding by artificial neutral receptors has been a topic of major interest in recent years because of their potential applications for detection and extraction of biologically and environmentally relevant anions.Tripodal receptors bearing urea/thiourea functional groups are neutral receptors which can bind anions strongly by hydrogen-bonding interactions. They also benefit from the directional conformation of two NH groups. During the course of this study, we have synthesized a mixed urea/thiourea-based tripodal receptor containing three urea and three thiourea moieties by a multi-step reaction. The new receptor has been examined to evaluate its binding affinity for common inorganic anions by 1H NMR titrations in solution, showing high selectivity for sulfate. Further, it has been used to extract sulfate from aqueous phase. Details of binding and extraction studies will be included in this presentation.Acknowledgement: The NSF is acknowledged for a CAREER award (CHE-1056927) to MAH.

Binding and extraction studies of sulfate by a tripodal hexa urea/thiourea-based receptor

247th National Meeting (2014)

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