Our group studies anion binding with strategically designed classes of pincers. Macrocyclic and non-cyclic ligands have been used as anion hosts for a variety of purposes, including sensing and separations. As an example, sulfate, a key detrimental anion in nuclear waste remediation, has been one of our target anions. We have also explored increasingly complex anions, such as dicarboxylates. Now, we focus on sensing and “confinement” of phytate, <i>myo</i>-inositol hexakis-phosphate, an anti-nutrient important in environmental and agricultural chemistry. Phytate is a major source of phosphate in plants and the most abundant source of organic phosphorus species in soils and seeds. The high concentration of phosphates in soils and plants and wide range of charge – from neutral to -12 - make this complex anion an intriguing target for exploration of its chemistry. While it has been widely studied over the years, unfortunately, due to the low solubility of its salts, there is little structural information and only a few reported crystal structures. This poster will describe our studies of confinement for anions of varying sizes, including our more recent work on unravelling the structural complexities of phytate.

Supramolecular confinement of anions, from small to large, with molecular pincers

255th National Meeting (2018)

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