| 1,1'-Bi-2-naphthol or Binol, having an axial chirality, is a widely used ligand in asymmetric catalysis. Over the last twenty years, Binol was used as a synthon for the synthesis of numerous ligands for the asymmetric catalysis of various reactions including hydrogenation, alkylation and various pericyclic reactions. The interest in this ligand comes from its versatility and possibilities to modify its electronic character and to introduce steric bulk around the catalytic site.;Paralleling interest in the study of Binol derivatives as ligands for asymmetric catalysis has been a growth in research on ionic liquids. Ionic liquids are salts with melting points below 100°C. They combine many interesting properties, such as low vapor pressure, thermal and chemical stability and high solvation power. Due to these properties, ionic liquids have been investigated to develop a range of recyclable solvents. Recently, the concept of task-specific ionic liquids has emerged in which the properties of the ionic liquids are tuned by selecting different cations and anions, to accomplish specific applications.;Following this approach, several ionic ligands have been made by coupling known ligands to an ionic liquid cation. Rarely, Binol has been used for this purpose. In this thesis, we study a family of Binol-imidazolium type compounds, in which Binol and imidazolium units are linked by a methylene spacer. Several analogs were synthesized by varying the number of imidazolium units and their position on the Binol moiety, the alkyl chain length on the imidazolium units and the counter-anion. After a study of the thermal properties, the use of Binol-imidazoliums as ligands was described in the asymmetric ethylation of aromatic aldehydes. The reaction was conducted in ionic liquid solvent and both Binol-imidazolium ligand and the solvent were recycled at the end of the reaction. This study demonstrates that the selectivity of these ligands greatly depends on their structure. Indeed, only Binol analogs functionalized at the 6 and 6' positions were selectivite.;Although Binol derivatives functionalized at the 3 and 3' positions did not serve as enantioselective catalysts, they were able to complex anions. Furthermore, it has already been reported by our group, that imidazolium compounds can transport anions across lipid bilayers depending on their amphiphilicity. In the second part of this thesis, we cover the ionophoric properties of Binol derivatives functionalized at the 3 and 3' positions by imidazolium moieties. First, a study will be presented of their structure-property relationships in the transport through liposomes. Thereafter, the transport mechanism will be discussed.;Finally, the biological activity of our compounds with ionophore activity was studied, because the anion transport is a key process in cell biology. Their antibacterial activity was tested on four strains of bacteria. Binol-imidazolium compounds exhibited activity on Gram positive bacteria. Their cytotoxicity was also studied on human cells. |
