Title of dissertation: ION BINDING AND TRANSPORT BY SYNTHETIC MOLECULAR ASSEMBLIES

Title of dissertation: ION BINDING AND TRANSPORT BY SYNTHETIC MOLECULAR ASSEMBLIES Frank William Kotch, Doctor of Philosophy, 2003 Dissertation directed by: Professor Jeffery T. Davis Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Self-assembly of small synthetic molecular building blocks has been applied to generate functional structures capable of binding and transporting cations and anions. Major discoveries from the research include a self-assembled ion pair receptor, ligands capable of K-selective transport through membranes, a compound that forms Clselective ion channels in planar and cellular membranes, and a series of efficient chloride transporters. Calix[4]arene-guanosine conjugates cG 2.26 and cG 2.34 are shown to assemble into Na-templated tubular architectures by H NMR, transmission electron microscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry, and to selectively transport K over Na and Cs across