Many biomolecules exist as internal ion pairs or zwitterions within a biologically relevant pH range. Despite their importance, the molecular recognition of this type of systems is specially challenging due to their strong solvation in aqueous media, and their trend to form folded or self-assembled structures by pairing of charges of different sign. In this mini-review, we will discuss the molecular recognition of zwitterions using non-natural, synthetic receptors. This contribution does not intend to make a full in-depth revision of the existing research in the field, but a personal overview with selected representative examples from the recent literature.

中文翻译：

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两性离子与人工受体的分子识别。

在生物相关的pH范围内，许多生物分子以内部离子对或两性离子的形式存在。尽管它们很重要，但是由于它们在水性介质中的强溶剂化以及它们通过对不同符号的电荷进行配对而形成折叠或自组装结构的趋势，因此对这类系统的分子识别尤其具有挑战性。在这个小型综述中，我们将讨论使用非天然合成受体对两性离子进行分子识别。该贡献无意对本领域中的现有研究进行全面深入的修订，而是对个人进行概述，并结合最新文献中的一些代表性实例。