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Stability constants, free energies, and enthalpies and entropies of the complexation of L-alanine methyl ester hydrochloride (L-Ala-HCl), L-phenylalanine methyl ester hydrochloride (L-Phe-HCl), and valine methyl ester hydrochloride (L-Val-HCl) with 15-crown-5 (15C5), benzo-15-crown-5 (B15C5), 18-crown-6 (18C6), benzo-18-crown-6 (B18C6), dicyclohexano-18-crown-6 (DC18C6), and dicyclohexano-24-crown-8 (DC24C8) in methanol are reported for 20°C. No significant variation in the stability constants and free energies of complexation is observed, indicating that the various crown ethers are poorly selective in binding the amino acids. However, the nature of the crown ether and the amino acid and their pattern of substitution cause a remarkable variation in the enthalpies and entropies of complexation. This indicates a strong enthalpy–entropy compensation effect. The enthalpy–entropy compensation effect for the crown ether complexes of the amino acid methyl ester hydrochlorides reported herein is compared with that of the crown ethers complexes of the amino alcohols and the free amino acid. It is found that the enthalpy–entropy compensation effect holds equally for the three classes of complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]