The discriminate bonding of metal ions is a challenge to the synthetic chemist and a phenomenon of considerable practical importance. An important feature of many technical applications is the specific or preferential binding of a single metal ion in the presence of many metals. Examples range from large-volume uses (e.g. ferric EDTA as a plant food, calcium complexing agents as water softeners or anticaking formulations) to very high technology applications (technetium complexation in radiopharmaceuticals, synthetic metalloenzymes). We are interested in efficient and discriminate binding of actinides for waste stream remediation. Actinides represent a major and long-lived contaminant in nuclear waste. While the separation of actinides from other radioactive components of waste, such as Sr and Cs, is relatively well established, the separation of actinides from each other and in complex solutions (e.g. those found in tank wastes) is not as well resolved.