Ion transport is an important biological process regulating homeostasis, cell volume, membrane excitability, etc. As cell membranes are impermeable to charged and large hydrophilic species, these are transported across the membrane by specialised proteins. In healthy cells, an ensemble of different transmembrane proteins is present to maintain precise ion gradients across the membrane for normal biological activity. The absence and/or malfunction of any of the ion transporters has serious consequences. Some of the channelopathies associated with insufficient anion transport include cystic fibrosis, Dent's disease, Bartter syndrome, and Fahr's syndrome. One way of tackling these diseases is to use synthetic transporters, either as artificial channels or as mobile carriers (ionophores). These synthetic transporters have the advantage of being able to mediate ion transport independently of the existing natural proteins and therefore may be complementary to other types of treatment. In this context, transporters capable of transporting chloride and bicarbonate are relevant for cystic fibrosis (CF) treatment. Several studies showed promising results that synthetic anion transporters can indeed restore ion transport in CF cells. For the biological application of anionophores, several criteria must be met, such as high activity, low toxicity and selectivity for the desired anion to be transported. Highly active compounds are sought, as they would allow lower dosages with a reduced risk of undesirable side effects and lower costs for both production and patients. There is already a large pool of different anion receptors serving as anionophores. These have been constructed from moieties that interact with anions via e.g. hydrogen or halogen bond donor groups, which are attached to various scaffolds, including steroids, carbazoles, polyamines or macrocycles. In addition to selecting a scaffold and binding groups, the choice of substituents is crucial to obtain a highly active transporter. Substituents must be chosen with care to regulate parameters such as lipophilicity or anion binding strength. The impact of substituents on transport activities is well documented, particularly for relatively small and simple anionophores. Anionophores with fluorinated substituents usually exhibit high levels of activity, attributable to the strongly electron-withdrawing property of fluorine atoms. This results in the polarization of the anion-binding site, thereby enhancing anion binding. An increase in anion binding generally leads to an enhancement in transport rates up to a point where anion decomplexation might become the rate limiting process in the anion transport. Additionally, most fluorinated molecules possess a high lipophilicity, which further aids diffusion across the lipid bilayer and increases transport activity. Fluorinated substituents in anion transporters are usually limited to phenyl rings containing fluorine atoms or -CF3 groups. A few examples of anionophores containing -OCF3 and -SF5 groups in their structure have also been reported. Examples containing non-aromatic fluorinated substituents are rare. Moreover, in contrast to non-fluorinated anionophores, reports with fluorinated transporters usually only include a few derivatives per series.