Imine ligands selective metal binding

We recently reported on the application of combinatorial methods to selection of stable and chloroform-soluble Schiff-base metal complexes from a dynamic library in order to improve the extraction of metal ions (18). In this study, we built a dynamic library of Schiff-base complexes to capitalize on the reversible nature of metal-catalyzed imine bond formation. Library components were chosen to optimize stability and chloroform solubility of metal complexes. By utilizing the template effect, metal ions promote the assembly of a group of ligands, which then undergo a condensation reaction to form a metal complex. Therefore, aldehydes containing a metal ion-binding site were used to facilitate metal ion templated formation of the Schiff-base ligands (Fig. 1). 

---