Abstract: Supramolecular chemistry is defined as "chemistry beyond the molecule", bearing on the organized entities of higher complexity that result from the association of two or more chemical species held together by intermolecular forces. Now, the applications of supramolecular chemistry in the realm of radiochemistry have attracted much attention. In this article, the separation of important metal ions by two kinds of supramolecular systems and ionic imprinted polymers (IIP) is discussed, which demonstrates the significant roles of supramolecular systems in the field of radiochemistry. Meanwhile, the first type is supermolecules resulted from the intermolecular association of a host molecule and its substrates, where the host molecules are mainly macrocyclic compounds ( such as crown ethers, calixarene, calix crown ethers and so on). The second type is supramolecular assemblies induced by the spontaneous association of a large undefined number of components into a specific phase, including reversed micelles, microemulsions and liquid membranes. IIPs can recognize and separate metal ions selectively, which realizes the recognition function of supramolecular chemistry. The transport function of supramolecular chemistry is also well interpreted in the separation of metal ions by liquid membrane. Besides, the perspectives of supramolecular chemistry in the field of radiochemistry are also presented
Template and target information: Review - supramolecular systems in radiochemistry
Author keywords: supramolecular chemistry, radiochemistry, separation of metal ions, macrocyclic compounds, ionic imprinting