A halogen-bonding-based heteroditopic receptor for alkali metal halides

A new heteroditopic receptor for alkali metal halides has been designed and synthesized. It is comprised of a well-established motif for cation binding and a motif for halogen-bonding-based anion recognition processes. The single-crystal X-ray structure of the complex between the heteroditopic receptor and sodium iodide is reported. Thanks to the cooperativity of metal coordination and the strong I-...I halogen bonding, the ion pair is fully separated. The boosting effect of the binding of the anion through halogen bonding on the coordination of the cation by the receptor has been proved also in solution by NMR experiments. The selectivity of the new heterotopic receptor toward different alkali metal halides has been tested by ESI mass experiments.