Heterocyclic Crown Ethers with Potential Biological and Pharmacological Properties: From Synthesis to Applications

Cyclic organic compounds with several ether linkages in their structure are of much concern in our daily life applications. Crown ethers (CEs) are generally heterocyclic and extremely versatile compounds exhibiting higher binding affinity. In recent years, due to their unique structure, crown ethers are widely used in drug delivery, solvent extraction, cosmetics manufacturing, material studies, catalysis, separation, and organic synthesis. Beyond their conventional place in chemistry, this review article summarizes the synthesis, biological, and potential pharmacological activities of CEs. We have emphasized the prospects of CEs as anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antifungal agents and have explored their amyloid genesis inhibitory activity, electrochemical, and potential metric sensing properties. The central feature of these compounds is their ability to form selective and stable complexes with various organic and inorganic cations. Therefore, CEs can be used in gas chromatography as the stationary phase and are also valuable for cation chromatographic to determine and separate alkali and alkaline-earth cations.