Prof. Szumna’s team, in collaboration with chemists from the University of Warsaw, is continuing research on unique receptors that bind anions through ultra-weak interactions with C-H groups. In their latest article, team members (Deepshikha Priyadarshini and Marek Szymański) show how modifications to the upper rim of resorcin[4]arenes, rationally designed using DFT calculations, improve the binding properties of chloride anions in the distant lower rim. The authors achieved record-high complexation constants and very good activity of the receptors in transporting anions across lipid membranes. Furthermore, they demonstrated that it is possible to rationally control not only the binding strength but also the selectivity, which they demonstrated by obtaining a receptor selective for hydrophilic bisulfate anions.
D. Priyadarshini, R. Naorem, M. P. Szymański, O. Danylyuk, M. J. Chmielewski, A. Szumna, „Tunable Anion Recognition at the Lower Rim of Resorcin[4]arenes: Strength, Selectivity, and Transport”, JACS Au