ABSTRACT.

    The current thesis has been developed mixing concepts of both supramolecular chemistry and material science.
    First of all, the development of a new 2-step colorimetric method has been carried out for anionic surfactants detection in water without the use of chlorinated solvents. Thus, a silica solid functionalized with an anionic binding site such as imidazol group, was designed and prepared. After the interaction of these units with the anionic surfactants, the extraction of a dye from the solution to the prepared solid occurs in a second step. The colour showed by the solid is related to the concentration of the surfactant present in the initial sample, allowing detection of surfactant in samples by the naked eye. Bearing in mind the obtained results, a new material was designed which was able to determine cationic surfactants. To do this, a sulfonate derivative was used as binding site. Apart from the study of the response of these materials and its characterization, real samples were analyzed indicating the viability of these hybrid materials for surfactant detection.
    Bearing in mind the previous results, secondly the design and preparation of a new material for the remediation of anionic surfactants in water samples was considered. In this case mesoporous materials were selected as inorganic supports, due to its high specific surface. This surface allowed a huge grafting of binding sites, in order to remove the most amount of surfactant. The removal ability of hybrid solids functionalized into the surface with imidazole, amine and pyridine was studied. A remarkable maximum surfactant adsorption was presented by the imidazole material, showing comparable adsorption capacity with certain resins.
     Finally, the design, preparation and study of a molecular gate based on mesoporous materials and controlled by presence of certain anionic species (long-chain carboxylates and anionic surfactants) was performed. This gated hybrid material could be used for the recognition of these anions. The closure mechanism was related to the coordination of these anionic species with the binding sites anchored into the surface of the material (imidazole, urea and thiourea). When the long-chain carboxylates coordinated with the binding sites induced the pore blockage with the subsequent inhibition of the release of the dye that was entrapped in the inner of the pores. No effect was observed in presence of short-chain carboxylates allowing the discrimination between certain species inside of a family. Bearing in mind this effect, the same systems could be used for anionic surfactantant determination in water samples without the use of chlorinated solvents.