The syntheses of new tripodal ligands with effective C 3 symmetry and anion recognition properties, are reported herein. The ligands have a 1,3,5-tris-methoxy-2,4,6-tris-(α,ωbromoalkoxy)calix- [6]arene as a backbone, and were prepared from 1,3,5-tris-methoxy-p-tert-butyl-calix [6]arene by alkylation with a series of α,ω-dibromo-alkanes [Br(CH 2 ) n Br] of different chain lengths (n = 2, 4 or 6). Further substitution of the bromo groups, via the use of 1-methyl-, 1-mesityl-or 2,6-diisopropylphenyl-1H-imidazole, led to alkylation by imidazole units and afforded tripodal and tricationic 1,3,5-tris-methoxy-2,4,6-trisimidazolium-p-tert-butyl-calix[6]arenes. These scaffolds provide a framework for H-bonded and electrostatic interactions with various anions and their anion binding properties were investigated by 1 H NMR and UV-visible spectroscopy. A sizeable selectivity for HSO 4 -(present as the n-Bu 4 N + salt) was demonstrated for most of the tripodal ligands considered in this work. Other anions such BF 4 -, ClO 4 -, PF 6 -, NO 3 -, Clexhibited weak to medium associations with the investigated ligands. A single crystal X-ray study, unfortunately of poor quality, corroborated the geometry of the calix [6]arenes that was previously established by 1 H NMR spectroscopy. The bindingsite geometry was more definitively probed by DFT calculations. IntroductionOver the last decades, the design of molecular receptors with high selectivity has been one of the goals and challenges in the field of supramolecular chemistry: [1] different functionalities and shapes [2][3][4] have been investigated to induce selective and efficient [5][6][7][8] recognition of charged and/or neutral species. [9] Due to their potential applications in the biological, environmental and industrial domains, [10][11][12][13][14] interest has also been focused on pre-organized hosts for anion coordination. [15,16] Nevertheless the selective coordination of anions remains a research area which has been less explored compared to that of cations. [17][18][19][20] The designed receptors can be neutral or cationic organic scaffolds or even metal-ligand complexes. [21][22][23][24][25] Calix[4]arenes have attracted interest due to their concave macrocyclic structure and hydrophobic cavity, despite their small cavity size, which can hamper the design of systems for anion recognition. Following subtle substitution and preorganization on the upper and lower rims, [26][27][28][29][30] charged systems have been prepared and investigated. Different type of positively charged sites can be grafted onto the calixarene. [31] Imidazolium groups, bound to different positions have been recently used. [32][33][34] The imidazolium proton's high acidity can promote efficient and strong C-H .… anion interactions and, in addition, the cationic imidazolium groups, may also induce strong electrostatic interactions with negatively charged anions. Secondary effects, such as anion-π interactions [35,36] could also take place. Overall, this series of complementary interactions makes c...