A theoretical investigation on structures of tripodal thiourea derivatives and their anion recognition

The structural geometries of three tripodal thiourea receptors, i.e. 1,3,5-triethyl-2,4,6-tris(N′-methylthioureido)methyl]benzene (1), trisN′-methyl-N-(2-aminoethyl)thiourea]methane (2), trisN′-methyl-N-(2-aminoethyl)thiourea]amine (3), and their complexes with F⁻, Cl⁻, Br⁻, I⁻, NO₃ ⁻, CO₃ ²⁻, SO₄ ²⁻, HSO₄ ⁻, PO₄ ³⁻, HPO₄ ²⁻ and H₂PO₄ ⁻ were obtained using the density functional theory calculations. Electronic and thermodynamic properties of anion binding complexes of the receptors 1, 2 and 3 were investigated. Recognition abilities of all the receptors in terms of selectivity coefficients are reported. Intermolecular interactions in all the studied complexes occurring via multi-point hydrogen bonding were found. The receptors 1, 2 and 3 were found to be excellent selectivity for phosphate ion and their binding free energy for the phosphate ion are −292.57, −291.77 and −295.01 kcal/mol, respectively.