Five novel amide based chiral tripodal receptors were synthesized under microwave irradiation by reacting nitrilotriacetic acid with chiral amino alcohols in a solvent-free medium with high yields (≥ 90%). The recognition affinities of these tripodal receptors were investigated towards anions and chiral organic ammonium cations using 1 H NMR titration method. The results show that receptor 1 displays more affinity against anions compared with other receptors and the tripodal receptor 4 demonstrated a significant enantiomeric selectivity towards the (R)-naphthylethylammonium perchlorate (ERF 54%).