Alkali Metal Cation Recognition at an Air-Water Interface by Lipophilic Double-Armed Crown Ethers

Abstract

New lipophilic double-armed crown ethers were designed and prepared for assessment of the capacity of the crown ring to form a complex with alkali metal cations at an air-water interface. For this purpose, the orientation of the crown ring at the air-water interface was carefully controlled by molecular design of the structure of the crown ether. The π-A isotherms of the crown ethers changed with the addition of alkali metal salts, and such changes were speculated to be dependent on complexation capacity at the interface.