Solvent-dependent enthalpic versus entropic anion binding by biaryl substituted quinoline based anion receptors

Anion receptors based on an 8-thiourea substituted quinoline with pentafluorinated (1a) or nonfluorinated (1b) biarylamide groups in the 2-position show similar binding of halide anions with somewhat higher association constants for the more acidic fluorinated derivative. Surprisingly, binding affinities for the halides in the case of the nonfluorinated 1b are similar in nonpolar chloroform or polar DMSO as solvent. Thorough thermodynamic investigations based on NMR van't Hoff analysis show that anion binding in chloroform is mainly enthalpically driven. In DMSO, entropy is the driving force for the binding of the ions with replacement of attached solvent.