Encapsulation and selectivity of sulfate with a furan-based hexaazamacrocyclic receptor in waterElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Crystallographic file in CIF format, synthetic procedures, additional crystal drawings, NMR titrations, and list of H-bonding and Cartesian coordinates for optimized structures in PDF formats. CCDC 981557. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c4ob00116h

A furan-based hexaazamacrocycle encapsulates a sulfate anion in its cavity showing strong affinity and selectivity for sulfate in water over a wide range of inorganic anions. The DFT calculations demonstrate that the receptor provides binding sites as hydrogen bonding donors and electrostatic positive charges for the strong binding of sulfate. A furan-based hexaazamacrocycle encapsulates a sulfate anion in its cavity showing strong affinity and selectivity for sulfate in water.