Charles J. Pedersen's legacy to chemistry.

The serendipitous discovery in 1961 of dibenzo-18-crown-6 by Charles J. Pedersen marked the beginning of research on cyclic polyether macrocyclic compounds. These compounds have a remarkably selective affinity for certain metal ions and provide a framework for studying molecular recognition processes. Pedersen's work excited much interest in the scientific community and fueled important advances in macrocyclic and supramolecular chemistry. Born in Korea of a Japanese mother and a Norwegian engineer father, he was educated in Japan and later graduated from the University of Dayton (BS, chemical engineering) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS, chemistry). He worked at du Pont for 42 years as a research chemist. His research talent at du Pont earned him an appointment as a Research Associate allowing him to pursue research as he chose. This freedom served him well making it possible for him to devote all his efforts following his discovery of dibenzo-18-crown-6 until his retirement to synthesis of cyclic polyethers and evaluation of their metal ion complexation properties. His influence on macrocyclic and supramolecular chemistry has been pervasive. He was co-recipient of the 1987 Nobel Prize in chemistry for development and use of molecules with structure-specific interactions of high selectivity. The year 2017 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of his first paper describing his synthesis of over 50 crown ethers.

Challenges to achievement of metal sustainability in our high-tech society.

Achievement of sustainability in metal life cycles from mining of virgin ore to consumer and industrial devices to end-of-life products requires greatly increased recycling rates and improved processing of metals using conventional and green chemistry technologies. Electronic and other high-tech products containing precious, toxic, and specialty metals usually have short lifetimes and low recycling rates. Products containing these metals generally are incinerated, discarded as waste in landfills, or dismantled in informal recycling using crude and environmentally irresponsible procedures. Low recycling rates of metals coupled with increasing demand for high-tech products containing them necessitate increased mining with attendant environmental, health, energy, water, and carbon-footprint consequences. In this tutorial review, challenges to achieving metal sustainability, including projected use of urban mining, in present high-tech society are presented; health, environmental, and economic incentives for various government, industry, and public stakeholders to improve metal sustainability are discussed; a case for technical improvements, including use of molecular recognition, in selective metal separation technology, especially for metal recovery from dilute feed stocks is given; and global consequences of continuing on the present path are examined.

Charles J. Pedersen: innovator in macrocyclic chemistry and co-recipient of the 1987 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

Charles J. Pedersen began life in Korea where his father was employed as an engineer at a gold mine in a remote region of that country. He received his primary and secondary school education in Japan and university training in the United States. He was employed as an organic research chemist at DuPont for 42 years. The signal accomplishment of this unusual individual was his serendipitous discovery of macrocyclic polyethers and of their selective complexation of alkali metal cations. This discovery sparked the development of a new field of chemistry and led to his sharing the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987. An attempt is made to understand Pedersen as a person in this article.

Efficient immobilization of a cadmium chemosensor in a thin film: generation of a cadmium sensor prototype.

[reaction: see text] The development of an ion-selective chemosensor for Cd(2+) allows generation of a "real-time" sensor. Immobilization of the chemosensor on quartz was achieved in a simple monolayer and in a thin film using a polymer intermediary. As intended, the thin film contains much more chemosensor than the monolayer and provides measurable responses to aqueous Cd(2+) concentrations below 1 microM. Alkali and alkaline earth ions do not interfere with Cd(2+) sensing; Zn(2+) and Cu(2+) are potential interferents.

New Tetraazacrown Ethers Containing Two Pyridine, Quinoline, 8-Hydroxyquinoline, or 8-Aminoquinoline Sidearms.

A series of macrocyclic tetraazacrown ethers containing two pyridine, quinoline, 8-hydroxyquinoline, or 8-aminoquinoline sidearms has been prepared. Crab-like cyclization of bis(alpha-chloroacetamide)s and diamines followed by reduction of the cyclic diamides was used to synthesize the selected crown ethers containing two unsubstituted macroring nitrogen atoms. The preparation of the macrocycles with sidearms was accomplished by reductive amination of the proper aldehydes with the crown ethers using sodium triacetoxyborohydride (NaBH(OAc)(3)) as the reducing agent. The 8-hydroxyquinoline- and 8-aminoquinoline-containing macrocycles were synthesized by reductive amination of 8-acetoxyquinoline-2-carboxaldehyde or 8-nitroquinoline-2-carboxaldehyde followed by removing the acetate groups or reducing the nitro groups to amino groups, respectively. Complexation of ligand 22 with Cu(2+), Co(2+), Ni(2+), Zn(2+), Cd(2+), and Pb(2+) was evaluated potentiometrically in aqueous solution (0.10 M Me(4)NCl) at 25 degrees C. Ligand 22 formed very stable complexes with these metal ions. The UV-vis spectra of 22 and its complexes were examined in an aqueous acetic acid buffer solution (pH 5). The 22-Cu(2+) complex provided a new absorption band at 258 nm.

Syntheses and Metal Ion Complexation of Novel 8-Hydroxyquinoline-Containing Diaza-18-Crown-6 Ligands and Analogues.

Ten new 8-hydroxyquinoline-containing diaza-18-crown-6 ligands and analogues were synthesized via a one-pot or stepwise Mannich reaction, reductive amination, or by reacting diaza-18-crown-6 with 5,7-dichloro-2-iodomethyl-8-quinolinol in the presence of N,N-diisopropylethylamine. The Mannich reaction of N,N'-bis(methoxymethyl)diaza-18-crown-6 with 4-chloro-2-(1H-pyrazol-3-yl)phenol gave the NCH(2)N-linked bis(3-(5-chloro-2-hydroxy)pyrazol-1-ylmethyl)-substituted diazacrown ether (14) in a 98% yield. The reaction of bis(N,N'-methoxymethyldiaza)-18-crown-6 with 2.2 equiv of 10-hydroxybenzoquinoline gave only the monosubstituted diazacrown ether ligand (8). Interaction of some of the ligands with various metal ions was evaluated by a calorimetric titration technique at 25 degrees C in MeOH. Bis(8-hydroxyquinoline-2-ylmethyl)-substituted ligand 13 forms a very strong complex with Ba(2+) (log K = 11.6 in MeOH) and is highly selective for Ba(2+) over Na(+), K(+), Zn(2+), and Cu(2+) (selectivity factor > 10(6)). The (1)H NMR spectral studies of the Ba(2+) complexes with bis(8-hydroxyquinoline-2-ylmethyl)- and bis(5,7-dichloro-8-hydroxyquinoline-2-ylmethyl)-substituted diaza-18-crown-6 ligands (13 and 10) suggest that these complexes are cryptate-like structures with the two overlapping hydroxyquinoline rings forming a pseudo second macroring. UV-visible spectra of the metal ion complexes with selected ligands suggest that these ligands might be used as chromophoric or fluorophoric sensors.

Synthesis and Properties of 5-Chloro-8-hydroxyquinoline-Substituted Azacrown Ethers: A New Family of Highly Metal Ion-Selective Lariat Ethers.

New 5-chloro-8-hydroxyquinoline (CHQ)-substituted aza-18-crown-6 (4), diaza-18-crown-6 (1), diaza-21-crown-7 (2), and diaza-24-crown-8 (3) ligands, where CHQ was attached through the 7-position, and aza-18-crown-6 (11) and diaza-18-crown-6 (10) macrocycles, where CHQ was attached through the 2-position, were prepared. Thermodynamic quantities for complexation of these CHQ-substituted macrocycles with alkali, alkaline earth, and transition metal ions were determined in absolute methanol at 25.0 degrees C by calorimetric titration. Two isomers, 1 and 10, which are different only in the attachment positions of the CHQ to the parent macroring, exhibit remarkable differences in their affinities toward the metal ions. Compound 1 forms very stable complexes with Mg(2+), Ca(2+), Cu(2+), and Ni(2+) (log K = 6.82, 5.31, 10.1, and 11.4, respectively), but not with the alkali metal ions. Ligand 10 displays strong complexation with K(+) and Ba(2+) (log K = 6.61 and 12.2, respectively) but not with Mg(2+) or Cu(2+). The new macrocycles and their complexes have been characterized by means of UV-visible and (1)H NMR spectra and X-ray crystallography. New peaks in the UV spectrum of the Mg(2+)-1 complex could allow an analytical determination of Mg(2+) in very dilute solutions in the presence of other alkali and alkaline earth metal cations. (1)H NMR spectral and X-ray crystallographic studies indicate that ligand 10 forms a cryptate-like structure when coordinated with K(+) and Ba(2+), which induces an efficient overlap of the two hydroxyquinoline rings. Such overlapping forms a pseudo second macroring that results in a significant increase in both complex stability and cation selectivity.

Mannich Reaction as a Key Strategy for the Synthesis of Benzoazacrown Ethers and Benzocryptands.

A convenient method for the synthesis of mono- and polycyclic azacrown macrocycles containing aromatic fragments using the Mannich condensation of phenols and secondary diamines has been studied. This new approach allowed the synthesis of bisphenols connected by oligoazaoxaalkane units in good yields without the need to protect the phenolic OH groups. These bisphenols (13-16) were alkylated with ditosylates of polyethylene glycols to give benzoazacrown ethers 25-30. Intermediate bisphenols 13-15 were also treated with three bis(methoxymethyl)-substituted diamines to form benzoazacrowns 10-12 containing internal phenolic functions. Phenol-containing mono- (11) and bicyclic (3, n = 1) compounds, which were synthesized via the Mannich aminomethylation process, were used as building blocks for construction of bi- (32) and tricyclic (33) ligands.

Chiral Pyridine-Based Macrobicyclic Clefts: Synthesis and Enantiomeric Recognition of Ammonium Salts.

An achiral (3) and two chiral pyridine-based macrobicyclic clefts (4 and 5) have been prepared by treating 2,6-bis[[2',6'-bis(bromomethyl)-4'-methylphenoxy]methyl]pyridine (2) with the appropriate achiral and chiral glycols. Starting 2 was prepared by first treating 2,6-bis(hydroxymethyl)-4-methylphenol with 2,6-[(tosyloxy)methyl]pyridine followed by phosphorus tribromide. Achiral macrobicyclic cleft 3 formed a complex at 25 degrees C in 50% CH(3)OH/50% CHCl(3) (v/v) with a primary ammonium salt (log K = 3.15) as evidenced by a significant change in the (1)H NMR spectrum. Highly organized (S,S,S,S)-4, prepared by treating 2 with (1S,5S)-3-oxapentane-1,5-diol, exhibited recognition at 25 degrees C in 20% C(2)H(5)OH/80% 1,2-C(2)H(4)Cl(2) (v/v) for the (S)-enantiomer of alpha-(1-naphthyl)ethylammonium perchlorate (NapEt) over its (R)-form (Delta log K = 0.85). This high recognition factor probably reflects an increase in molecular rigidity by the introduction of a second macro ring on the monocyclic pyridinocrown ligand.