Facilitated transport of sugars by a resorcinarene through a supported liquid membrane

Supported liquid membranes (SLM) containing the resorcinarene carrier 1 have been used for the selective transport of monosaccharides (pentoses and hexoses) from concentrated aqueous solutions. The membranes, made of PTFE films of different porosities impregnated with a CCl4 solution of 1, are stable for at least 10 days. The permeabilities of the SLMs for various sugars were calculated. The results are compared with those of selective extraction of sugars performed with a CCl4 solution of 1. On the basis of the flux dependence on the initial concentrations of carrier and sugar, the rate-determining step in the transport mechanism is shown to be the migration of the 1 : 1 carrier–sugar complex in the immobilized organic phase.