Salophen-Uranyl Complexes as Versatile Supramolecular Receptors

This book describes recent studies on the effectiveness of Salophen-Uranyl complexes as receptors for a wide variety of organic and inorganic guests. A brief description on the fundamental concepts of Supramolecular Chemistry is also given in an introductory Chapter One. Salophen-Uranyl complexes are demonstrated to be quite efficient receptors for organic quaternary ammonium and aromatic iminium salts, and zwitterions (Chapter Two); in Chapter Three the recognition of higher alkali metal halides (K+, Rb+ and Cs+) is presented. A critical analysis on the state of the art in the field introduces the novel experimental work (sections 3.1 and 3.2). Recognition of fluoride is the subject of Chapter Four. A general overview introduces the use of a simple Salophen-Uranyl complex for the colorimetric sensing of fluoride in mM concentration in a polar aprotic organic solvent. Chapter Five speculates on the possible employment of Salophen-Uranyl complexes and their Al-derivatives in Molecular Tectonics (sections 5.2-5.4). An overview on this multidisciplinary area of research is included (5.1).