Rational ligand design for metal ion recognition. Synthesis of a N-benzylated N2S3-donor macrocycle for enhanced silver(I) discrimination.

Four previously documented ligand design strategies for achieving Ag(I) discrimination have been applied to the design of a new N-benzylated N2S3-donor macrocycle; the latter shows high selectivity for Ag(I) over Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Pb(II) in log K and bulk membrane transport studies.