title: Anion Transport with Chalcogen Bonds.
abstract: In this report, we introduce synthetic anion transporters that operate with chalcogen bonds. Electron-deficient dithieno[3,2-b;2',3'-d]thiophenes (DTTs) are identified as ideal to bind anions in the focal point of the σ holes on the cofacial endocyclic sulfur atoms. Anion binding in solution and anion transport across lipid bilayers are found to increase with the depth of the σ holes of the DTT anionophores. These results introduce DTTs and related architectures as a privileged motif to engineer chalcogen bonds into functional systems, complementary in scope to classics such as 2,2'-bipyrroles or 2,2'-bipyridines that operate with hydrogen bonds and lone pairs, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Geneva , CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Benz
authors.affiliation: Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Geneva , CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Macchione
authors.affiliation: Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Geneva , CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Quentin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Verolet
authors.affiliation: Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Geneva , CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jiri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mareda
authors.affiliation: Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Geneva , CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.affiliation: Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Geneva , CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matile