An Exceptionally Active and Highly Selective Perchlorate Transporter Containing a Trimesic Amide Scaffold

We report here a series of alkyl group-modified trimesic amide molecules (TAs) with excellent anion transport activities. Among them, TA6, with the highest ion transport activity and excellent selectivity, efficiently transports anions across the membrane in the order of ClO₄^- > I^- > NO₃^- > Br^- > Cl^-, with an EC₅₀ value as low as 17.6 nM (0.022 mol% relative to lipid molecules) for ClO₄^-, which outperforms other anions by 5- to 22-folds and manifests as the best perchlorate transporter ever reported.