Enantiomer-Selectivity of Ion-selective Electrodes Based on a Chiral Crown-ether Ionophore

Abstract
A newly synthesized crown ether ionophore can differentiate between R-(+) and S-(-)-1-phenylethylammonium ions when incorporated into a plasticized PVC based electrode membrane, thus providing enantiomer-selectivity. Different membrane compositions were studied. The selectivity coefficient found was 0.71, independent of the membrane composition. This proves the robustness of the ISE method for testing the enantiomeric selectivity of newly synthesized ionophores. Selectivities of the new ionophore towards different hydrophilic cations were also determined.