2.B.46.  The Bis(amido)imidazole Carrier (BAIC) Family

A series of sickle-shaped bis(amido)imidazoles have been synthesized to examine their ion transport activities. Proton-anion binding by the neutral and protonated forms of receptors assessed by 1H-NMR titration experiments confirmed better chloride binding by the protonated form of a receptor compared to its neutral form. The transport experiments across unimolecular vesicles (by HPTS and lucigenin assays) confirmed the H⁺/Cl^- symport process under the applied pH gradient conditions. The transporter also allows anion antiport as evident from the studies under symmetrical pH conditions. The ionophoric activity by the mobile carrier mechanism has been demonstraed (Shinde and Talukdar 2019).