Synthetic studies on development of a novel macrolide ionophore: Configurational requirement of 16-membered macrodiolide for binding ability

Twelve synthetic 16-membered macrodiolides were prepared from racemic homononactic acid. The compounds which have an anti-relationship between the ether linkage of THF and the adjacent methyl showed the cation-binding ability. Macrodiolide 12 exhibited the ion selectivity for Li+.