Like other crown ethers, 12-crown-4 complexes with alkali metal cations. The cavity diameter of 1.2-1.5 Å gives it a high selectivity towards the lithium cation (ionic diameter 1.36 Å)
Its point group is S. The dipole moment of 12-crown-4 varies with solvent and temperature. At 25 °C, the dipole moment of 12-crown-4 was determined as 2.33 ± 0.03 D in cyclohexane and 2.46 ± 0.01 D in benzene.