Macrocyclic ligands and their use in chemical separations

Macrocyclic chemistry has had a phenomenal growth curve during the past three decades (Izatt et al.). Interest in this field was catalyzed by Pedersen's report of the synthesis and partial characterization of a large number of novel cyclic polyethers. The unusual affinity of these new compounds for and selectivity among alkali metal cations was noted (Pedersen) and quantitated (Izatt et al.). A 1987 National Academy of Science publication on separations listed three high priority needs in the separations field (King). These were to develop highly selective reagents capable of discriminating among similar chemical species, reagents capable of concentrating trace amounts of solutes even in the presence of large excesses of matrix solutes, and reagents capable of removing solutes from large quantities of solvent. Certain macrocycles offer the promise of being successful in achieving all three of these goals. This promise arises from their high selectivity for particular cations in various series of closely related cations, their large affinities for particular cations, and the ease with which they can be modified to meet particular needs inherent to chemical separations