Crown ether-type interactions with ions

Solvent or ligand Interactions with tight Ion pairs produce externally complexed tight Ion pairs and/or ligand separated Ion pairs. The stability of the complexes depends on solvent, temperature, type of crown and the nature of the cation. For example, In ethereal solvents benzo-15-crown-5 and fluorenyl sodium (Fl-.Na ) form the two Isomeric complexes I and II depicted In reaction 1, but the ratio I/II Is highly solvent sensitive (9) (If the bound solvent In II Is Included In the structure of II, the two complexes of course can actually not be considered Isomeric). 

The forces of ion-dipole interactions are mostly the basis for complex formation in these systems. This fact probably helps explain the possibility of complex formation of crown-ethers with cations whose size is bigger than the ether s cavity. In this case, the sandwich structures are formed, or a considerable displacement (going out) of metal cations out of the plane of the oxygen donor atoms [571]. Opened O-containing crown-ether podands [575-578], for instance, 302 and 303, belong to this structural type ... 

Protons are relatively simple targets for sensor molecules and do not require engineered receptors, however, achievement of selective interactions with other chemical species requires much more elaborate receptors. In the most cases cations are bound via electrostatic or coordinative interactions within the receptors alkali metal cations, which are rather poor central ions and form only very weak coordination bonds, are usually bound within crown ethers, azacrown macrocycles, cryptands, podands, and related types of receptor moieties with oxygen and nitrogen donor atoms [8], Most of the common cation sensors are based on the photoinduced electron transfer (PET) mechanism, so the receptor moiety must have its redox potential (HOMO energy) adjusted to quench luminescence of the fluorophore (Figure 16.3). 

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