Water-soluble zinc porphyrins bearing an ammonium group and a phenyl or tertiary butyl group above each porphyrin plane were designed and synthesized. Binding data for amino carboxylates in aqueous solution suggested that these porphyrins recognize the carboxylates on the basis of coordinative, Coulomb, and hydrophobic interactions and that a chiral recognition phenomenon for glycyl-tryptophan anion is derived from the cooperation of these interactions.