Structural design criteria for anion hosts: strategies for achieving anion shape recognition through the complementary placement of urea donor groups.

The arrangement of urea ligands about different shaped anions has been evaluated with electronic structure calculations. Geometries and binding energies are reported for urea complexes with Cl-, NO(3)-, and ClO(4)-. The results yield new insight into the nature of urea-anion interactions and provide structural criteria for the deliberate design of anion selective receptors containing two or more urea donor groups.