1,3-bis(4-nitrophenyl)urea (1) interacts through hydrogen bonding with a variety of oxoanions in an MeCN solution to give bright yellow 1:1 complexes, whose stability decreases with the decreasing basicity of the anion (CH3COO- > C6H5COO- > H2PO4- > NO2- > HSO4- > NO3-). The [Bu4N][1.CH3COO] complex salt has been isolated as a crystalline solid and its molecular structure determined, showing the formation of a discrete adduct held together by two N-H...O hydrogen bonds of moderate strength. On the other hand, the F- ion first establishes a hydrogen-bonding interaction with 1 to give the most stable 1:1 complex, and then on addition of a second equivalent, induces urea deprotonation, due to the formation of HF2-. The orange-red deprotonated urea solution uptakes carbon dioxide from air to give the tetrabutylammonium salt of the hydrogencarbonate H-bond complex, [Bu4N][1.HCO3], whose crystal and molecular structures have been determined.

Molecules containing polarized N-H fragments behave as H-bond donors toward anions and are widely used as receptors for recognition and sensing purposes in aprotic solvents (CHCl(3), MeCN, and DMSO). We present examples of receptors containing pyrrole and urea subunits, and we discuss the stability of their H-bond complexes with a variety of anions. It is demonstrated that the stability of the 1:1 complexes is strictly related to the acidic tendencies of the receptor and to the basic properties of the anion. It may happen also that more basic anions induce the deprotonation of the receptor, if equipped with electron-withdrawing substituents. This is typically observed on interaction with fluoride, due to the formation of the very stable [HF(2)](-) self-complex. For urea-based receptors armed with chromogenic substituents, the addition of a large excess of the anion (F(-), OH(-)) may induce the consecutive deprotonation of both N-H fragments, processes signaled by the development of vivid colors.

We report a new macrocyclic ligand, N,N'-bis[(6-carboxy-2-pyridil)methyl]-4,13-diaza-18-crown-6 (H(2)bp18c6), designed for complexation of lanthanide ions in aqueous solution. Potentiometric measurements evidence an unprecedented selectivity of bp18c6 for the large Ln(III) ions. Among the different Ln(III) ions, La(III) and Ce(III) show the highest log K(ML) values, with a dramatic drop of the stability observed from Ce(III) to Lu(III) as the ionic radius of the Ln(III) ions decreases (log K(CeL) - log K(LuL) = 6.9). The X-ray crystal structures of the Gd(III) and Yb(III) complexes show that the metal ion is directly bound to the 10 donor atoms of the bp18c6 ligand. The structure of the complexes in solution has been investigated by (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy, as well as by theoretical calculations performed at the DFT (B3LYP) level. Our results indicate that a conformational change occurs around the middle of the lanthanide series: for the larger Ln(III) ions the most stable conformation is Delta(deltalambdadelta)(deltalambdadelta), while for the smallest Ln(III) ions (Gd-Lu) our calculations predict the Delta(lambdadeltalambda)(lambdadeltalambda) form being the most stable one. This structural change was confirmed by the analysis of the Ce(III)-, Pr(III)-, and Yb(III)-induced paramagnetic (1)H shifts. The selectivity that bp18c6 shows for the large Ln(III) ions can be attributed to a better fit between the light Ln(III) ions and the relatively large crown fragment of the ligand. Indeed, our DFT calculations indicate that the interaction between the Ln(III) ion and several donor atoms of the crown moiety is weakened as the ionic radius of the metal ion decreases.