This thesis describes the synthesis of interlocked anion host systems which exploit hydrogen bonding, halogen bonding, and lanthanide-coordination for anion recognition and sensing in aqueous solution. Chapter 1 introduces the field of anion supramolecular chemistry, with particular focus on areas of particular relevance to this thesis, namely anion recognition and sensing, anion templation and the synthesis of interlocked structures. Chapter 2 describes the synthesis of hydrogen bonding rotaxane and catenane hosts for recognising and sensing oxoanions in aqueous solvent media. The novel use of nitrate anion templation for the synthesis of interlocked molecules is reported, and the unprecedented selective recognition of nitrate in aqueous solvent media is demonstrated. Chapter 3 details the preparation of water soluble permethylated β-cyclodextrin-stoppered rotaxane hosts that utilise halogen bonding and hydrogen bonding interactions to bind anions in pure water. The first thermodynamic investigation into halogen bonding in water is reported, and the relative capabilities of halogen and hydrogen bonding for anion recognition in water are compared. Chapter 4 investigates the incorporation of lanthanide cations into rotaxane hosts for optical anion sensing. The seminal use of lanthanide cation templation for interlocked molecule synthesis is described, before anion templation approaches towards the synthesis of lanthanide-based rotaxanes are discussed. The luminescence anion sensing capabilities of these interlocked hosts are investigated. Chapter 5 describes the experimental procedures used in this work, and details the characterisation of compounds presented in Chapters 2–4. Chapter 6 summarises the conclusions of this thesis.