Three new oxathiacrown ethers 1, 2 and 3 containing a sulfoxide group were synthesized in a simple way. Conductometric titration studies in pure acetonitrile were employed to invistigate their binding affinities towards Ag +, Cu 2+, Pb 2+, Cd 2+, Zn 2+, Co 2+, Ni 2+, Cr 3+and Hg 2+. They were found to be selective for Ag + and Cu 2+ over the other metals investigated. Ligand 1 has the highest selectivity towards Ag +. The structure of compound 3 was confirmed by X-ray crystallography.