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Cation-pi and the corresponding anion-pi interactions have in general been investigated as binary complexes despite their association with counterions. However, a recent study of the ammonia channel highlights the important but overlooked role of anions in cation-pi interactions. In an effort to examine the structural and energetic consequences of the presence of counterions, we have carried out detailed ab initio calculations on some model cation-pi-anion ternary complexes and evaluated the nonpair potential terms, three-body contributions, and attractive and repulsive energy components of the interaction energy. The presence of the anion in the vicinity of the pi system leads to a large redistribution of electron density and hence leads to an inductive stabilization. The resulting electronic and geometrical changes have important consequences in both chemical and biological systems. Compared to cation-pi-anion ternary complexes, the magnitude of the cation-pi interaction in pi-cation-anion ternary complexes is markedly lower because of charge transfer from the anion to the cation.

The design of cesium-selective ionophores must include the nature of cesium-water interactions. The authors have carried out extensive ab initio and density functional theory calculations of hydrated cesium cations to obtain reasonably accurate energetics, thermodynamic quantities, and IR spectra. An extensive search was made to find the most stable structures. Since water...water interactions are important in the aqua-Cs+ clusters, the authors investigated the vibrational frequency shifts as a function of the number of water molecules and the frequency characteristics with and without the presence of outer-shell water molecules. The predicted vibrational frequencies were then compared with the infrared photodissociation spectra of argon-tagged hydrated cesium cluster ions. This comparison allowed the identification of specific hydrogen-bonding structures present in the experimental spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In earlier studies, the interactions of isolated ionic species with various solvents were investigated using ab initio calculations. The ionic species investigated included cations (proton, hydronium, ammonium, and metal cations) and anions (single electron, hydroxide, and halide anions). However in the present study, we investigate the interactions of these ionic species with the solvent in the presence of other competing ionic species. We also elaborate on how the information obtained from these extensive studies have been employed in designing and synthesizing various kinds of novel ionophores and receptors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the type of ionophore family utilizing the cation-olefinic &pie; interaction. Development of novel ionophores; Comparison of the binding efficacies of collarenes and beltenes; Use of free energy perturbation methods to obtain binding affinities.