Polymeric membrane electrodes for monohydrogen phosphate and sulfate

A zwitterionic bis(guanidinium) ionophore bearing an anionic closo-borane cluster (1) and a dihydrochloride analogue (2) are investigated in polymeric membrane ion-selective electrodes (ISEs). Both compounds have been previously shown to complex and selectively extract oxoanions. By systematic variation of the kind and concentration of the ion-exchanger sites in the membrane, the optimal performance with the so far best sulfate selectivity is found for ISE membranes based on the dihydrochloride, whereas those with the zwitterion analogue are shown to possess a reasonably good selectivity for monohydrogen phosphate.