Water-soluble molecular capsule for the complexation of cesium and thallium cations

Binding properties of cesium and thallium cations by an enantiopure cryptophane derivative PP-1 have been investigated in water under basic conditions. The binding process has been evidenced using electronic circular dichroism (ECD), and binding constants of the Cs(+)@PP-1 and Tl(+)@PP-1 complexes have been determined from isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) experiments in LiOH/H(2)O, NaOH/H(2)O, and KOH/H(2)O solutions. In addition, Tl(+)@PP-1 complex has been characterized for the first time by (205)Tl NMR spectroscopy. Cryptophane 1 exhibits an exceptionally high affinity for thallium and cesium cations in a large range of experimental conditions (nature, concentration of the counterion, and temperature). For example, binding constants as high as 2.9 × 10(9) M(-1) and 5.3 × 10(8) M(-1) have been measured by ITC at 298 K in NaOH/H(2)O (0.1 M) solution, for the Tl(+)@PP-1 and Cs(+)@PP-1 complexes, respectively. The high affinity of cryptophane 1 for Cs(+) and Tl(+) cations is preserved at higher LiOH, NaOH, and KOH concentrations and under extreme basic conditions, revealing the stability and the great selectivity of this supramolecular system toward Li(+), Na(+), and K(+) cations.