Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Crown Ethers

Crown Ethers

Crown ethers are cyclic polyethers that contain multiple oxygen atoms, usually arranged in a regular pattern. The first crown ether was synthesized by Charles Pederson while working at DuPont in 1967. For this work, Pedersen was co-awarded the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Crown ethers are named using the formula x-crown-y, where x is the total number of atoms in the ring and y is the number of ether oxygen atoms. The term 'crown' refers to the crown-like shape that these ether molecules...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Beyond the Dip: Silent and Non-Silent Fano Resonances in Quantum Systems.

ACS omega·2026

Same author

Tuning Nanoscale Conductance in Cyclic Molecules via Molecular Length and Anchoring Groups.

Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Same author

Single-Molecule and π-π-Stacked Dimer Electron Transport in Carbazole and Folded Bicarbazole Derivatives in Molecular Junctions.

ACS omega·2025

Same author

Molecular Electronics Meets Direct-Write Carbon Nanofabrication via Focused Electron-Beam-Induced Deposition (FEBID): A Platform for Junction Architecture Design.

ACS applied electronic materials·2025

Same author

Breaking Interference-Driven Reversal Currents to Boost Single-Molecule Conductance.

Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English)·2025

Same author

Layer-by-Layer Fabrication of Fullerene-Intercalated Orthogonal Molecular Architectures Enhances Thermoelectric Behavior of Graphene-Based Nanodevices.

Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2025

Same journal

Anharmonic phonons via quantum thermal bath simulations.

The Journal of chemical physics·2026

Same journal

Quantum simulation of alignment dependent differential cross sections in co-propagating molecular beams at cold collision energies.

The Journal of chemical physics·2026

Same journal

Non-additive ion effects on the coil-globule equilibrium of a generic polymer in aqueous salt solutions.

The Journal of chemical physics·2026

Same journal

Insights into the unexpected small reduction of the temperature of maximum density of water by lithium chloride addition.

The Journal of chemical physics·2026

Same journal

Optical frequency comb double-resonance spectroscopy of the 9030-9175 cm-1 states of ethylene.

The Journal of chemical physics·2026

Same journal

Time reversal breaking of colloidal particles in cells.

The Journal of chemical physics·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 7, 2026

Single-Molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer Methods for Real-Time Investigation of the Holliday Junction Resolution by GEN1

Single-Molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer Methods for Real-Time Investigation of the Holliday Junction Resolution by GEN1

Published on: September 18, 2019

Discriminating single-molecule sensing by crown-ether-based molecular junctions.

Ali K Ismael¹, Alaa Al-Jobory¹, Iain Grace¹

¹Department of Physics, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom.

The Journal of Chemical Physics

|February 17, 2017

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Crown-ether molecular wires offer selective alkali ion sensing. Binding of lithium, sodium, or potassium ions alters electrical conductance, enabling discrimination based on ion-specific charge transfer and resonance shifts.

More Related Videos

Engineering Molecular Recognition with Bio-mimetic Polymers on Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Engineering Molecular Recognition with Bio-mimetic Polymers on Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Published on: January 10, 2017

Investigating Single Molecule Adhesion by Atomic Force Spectroscopy

Investigating Single Molecule Adhesion by Atomic Force Spectroscopy

Published on: February 27, 2015

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 7, 2026

Single-Molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer Methods for Real-Time Investigation of the Holliday Junction Resolution by GEN1

Single-Molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer Methods for Real-Time Investigation of the Holliday Junction Resolution by GEN1

Published on: September 18, 2019

Engineering Molecular Recognition with Bio-mimetic Polymers on Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Engineering Molecular Recognition with Bio-mimetic Polymers on Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Published on: January 10, 2017

Investigating Single Molecule Adhesion by Atomic Force Spectroscopy

Investigating Single Molecule Adhesion by Atomic Force Spectroscopy

Published on: February 27, 2015

Area of Science:

Molecular electronics
Chemical sensing
Quantum transport

Background:

Crown-ether molecules are known for selective alkali metal ion binding.
Integrating crown ethers into molecular wires can enable sensing applications.
Changes in electrical conductance upon ion binding can be used for discrimination.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the sensing capabilities of single-molecule junctions incorporating crown ethers.
To determine the change in electrical conductance upon binding of lithium, sodium, and potassium ions.
To understand the charge transfer mechanisms responsible for sensing.

Main Methods:

Utilizing a density functional theory (DFT)-based approach.
Employing quantum transport calculations.
Simulating single-molecule junctions with crown ether-anthraquinone units attached to gold electrodes via alkyl chains.

Main Results:

The electrical conductance of the molecular wire changes upon binding of different alkali ions.
Lithium, sodium, and potassium ions induce distinct enhancements in conductance.
Observed conductance changes are attributed to charge transfer from the ion to the molecular wire.
This charge transfer shifts molecular resonances closer to the electrode Fermi energy.

Conclusions:

Single-molecule junctions with crown ethers show potential for selective alkali ion sensing.
The magnitude of conductance change is ion-dependent, allowing for discrimination.
The sensing mechanism involves ion-induced charge transfer and molecular orbital shifts.