Counterintuitive Electrostatics upon Metal Ion Coordination to a Receptor with Two Homotopic Binding Sites
The consecutive binding of two potassium ions to a bis(18-crown-6) analogue of Tröger’s base (BCETB) in water was studied by isothermal titration calorimetry using four different salts, KCl, KI, KSCN, and K2SO4. A counterintuitive result was observed: the enthalpy change associated with the binding of the second ion is more negative than that of the first (ΔH°bind,2 < ΔH°bind,1). This remarkable f
