Anions are omnipresent in the natural world, and although frequently unnoticed, perform important functions.¹  Chlorides are present in immense amounts in the oceans, nitrates and sulfates are found in the acid rains, and carbonates are key-element in biomineralized materials. Anthropogenic anions, including pertechnetate, a radioactive product in spent nuclear fuel, phosphate and nitrate from agriculture, constitute the main pollution hazard. Anions are also crucial for maintenance of life. Every imaginable biochemical process at some stage is related with recognition, transformation, and transport of anions. Anionic species are essential in formation enzyme-substrate and enzyme-cofactor complexes as well as in interaction...