Electrochemical studies on molecular recognition of anions: Complex formation between xylylenyl bis-iminoimidazolinium and dicarboxylates in nitrobenzene and water

Yuanhua Shao, Brian Linton, Andrew D. Hamilton, Stephen G. Weber

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This paper reports studies of complex formation between the synthetic dicarboxylate receptor para-xylylenylbis-(iminoimidazolinium) (12+) and dicarboxylates in electrolyte-containing nitrobenzene and water using cyclic voltammetry resulting from charge transfer across a liquid|liquid interface. A series of dicarboxylate-tetrabutylammonium salts was prepared and investigated systematically. The receptor 12+ shows modest selectivity in binding glutarate in nitrobenzene over longer dicarboxylates. The interactions between 12+ and glutarate are very weak in the aqueous phase, and the association constant for the binding reaction is 190 ± 100 M-1. The association constants between 12+ and glutarate in electrolyte-containing nitrobenzene saturated with an aqueous phase and in electrolyte-containing nitrobenzene that has not been saturated with an aqueous phase are 7.46 ± 0.39 × 104 and 2.12 ± 0.28 × 105 M-1, respectively. 12+ transfers across the water nitrobenzene interface reversibly. However, it does not facilitate the transfer of shorter chain dicarboxylates, as crown ethers do for alkali metals. The failure to observe facilitated transfer is not due to a lack of complexation between glutarate and 12+. Rather it arises because at potentials sufficiently negative (water phase vs. nitrobenzene phase) to drive the anionic dicarboxylate into the receptor-enriched nitrobenzene, the cationic receptor has already been driven in the opposite direction, depleting it from the organic side of the interface.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)33-37
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Electroanalytical Chemistry
Volume441
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 15 1998

Keywords

  • Dicarboxylate
  • Glutarate
  • Water/nitrobenzene interface

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • General Chemical Engineering
  • Electrochemistry

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Electrochemical studies on molecular recognition of anions: Complex formation between xylylenyl bis-iminoimidazolinium and dicarboxylates in nitrobenzene and water'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this