Furazan bis-ureas: a heterocyclic scaffold for anion binding and transport

The incorporation of hydrogen bonding motifs surrounding a central cyclic scaffold has proven to be an effective method in the design of synthetic anion transpoters. Herein, we report a novel and synthetically accessible architecture centred around an oxadiazole ring. The series was found to effectively mediate the perturbation of liposomal pH gradients at micromolar concentrations via a H⁺/Cl⁻ transport mechanism and a wide range of cytotoxicities were exhibited against cancerous and normal cell lines.