Application of resorcinarene derivatives in chemical separations

The applications of resorcinarene derivatives in modern separation techniques including high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC), capillary electrophoresis (CE), ion chromatrography (IC), and liquid membranes are reviewed in this paper. Resorcinarenes are macrocyclic compounds which can be modified with various substituents on upper and lower rims to provide specific functionality and selectivity. The derivatives can be adsorbed or covalently bound to the stationary phase of HPLC, GC, and IC, or used as pseudo-stationary phase in CE to separate organic or inorganic species. They have been tested as carriers to selectively transfer species from source phase to receiving phase in bulk liquid membranes, supported liquid membranes, and polymer inclusion membranes. These broad applications of resorcinarene-based macrocyclic ligands indicate that they are a promising class of compounds that are worthwhile to be explored in both synthesis and separation applications.