The use of templation to affect the formation of one product, from a reaction milieu that could potentially form many, is an increasingly important aspect of supramolecular chemistry. 1 The synthesis of crown ethers 2 is just one example of an important class of compounds whose availability predominantly relies on (metal ion) templation. 3 However, for the synthesis of crown ethers possessing more than approximately 24 atoms in their macrocyclic chain, metal ion templation is less ...
