TETRAAZACYCLOPHANES AS HOST MOLECULES FOR SOLVENT VAPORS - MASS-SENSITIVE DETECTION AND FORCE-FIELD CALCULATIONS

The principles of host-guest chemistry are applied to the design of ch emically sensitive layers. Substituted tetraazacyclophanes are used as coatings for a mass-sensitive quartz microbalance. Thus, a variety of solvent vapours can be detected with a high sensitivity in the ppm ra nge with very small water cross-sensitivities. This procedure is espec ially suitable for halogenated and aromatic hydrocarbons, such as tetr achloroethylene and benzene. Evidence for the host-guest binding mecha nism is given by the satisfying correlation between the sensor respons e and the complexation energies calculated by force-field methods.