A tripodal tris-selenourea anion transporter matches the activity of its thio- analogue but shows distinct selectivity^*

* Dedicated to Prof. Jerry Atwood on the occasion of his 75th birthday.

Abstract

We report the synthesis of a tripodal tris-selenourea transporter scaffold. The Cl⁻ and transport activity of the compound has been compared extensively with the analogous oxo- and thiourea compounds. We found that the selenourea demonstrates remarkably similar transport efficacy and mechanistic properties to the equivalent thiourea, but demonstrates flipped selectivity for Cl⁻ over .

Keywords:

• Supramolecular chemistry
• anion transport
• hydrogen bonding
• selenourea

Acknowledgements

MJS thanks the EPSRC and the University of Southampton for a Doctoral Prize postdoctoral fellowship. PAG thanks the University of Sydney and the ARC for funding.

Notes

* Dedicated to Prof. Jerry Atwood on the occasion of his 75th birthday.