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Updated: Sep 24, 2025

From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding
Published on: March 24, 2018
Calix[6]arenes with halogen bond donor groups as selective and efficient anion transporters
Anurag Singh1, Aaron Torres-Huerta1, Tom Vanderlinden1,2
1Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Ecole polytechnique de Bruxelles, Engineering Molecular NanoSystems, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. hennie.valkenier@ulb.be.
Abstract:
Here we present the anion binding and anion transport properties of a series of calix[6]arenes decorated on their small rim with either halogen bond or hydrogen bond donating groups. We show that the halogen bond donating iodotriazole groups enable highly selective transport of chloride and nitrate anions, without transport of protons or hydroxide, at rates similar to those observed with thiourea or squaramide groups.
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