Bambus[n]urils: a New Family of Macrocyclic Anion Receptors

A recently discovered anion receptor is jointed by three related macrocycles differing in the number of glycoluril units and type of substitution. The synthesis is carried out in nonpolar solvents compared to aqueous media used in the case of the original macrocycle. The size of macrocycle is controlled by a template. A hexameric macrocycle with benzyl substitution binds halide anions with an affinity exceeding 10(9) M(-1) while a tetrameric analog does not bind any of the investigated anions.