Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are attractive synthetic building blocks for more complex conjugated nanocarbons, but their use for this purpose requires appreciable quantities of a PAH with reactive functional groups. Despite tremendous recent advances, most synthetic methods cannot satisfy these demands. Here we present a general and scalable [2 + 2 + n ] ( n = 1 or 2) cycloaddition strategy to access PAHs that are decorated with synthetically versatile alkynyl groups and its application to seven structurally diverse PAH ring systems (thirteen new alkynylated PAHs in total). The critical discovery is the site-selectivity of an Ir-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition, which preferentially cyclizes tethered diyne units with preservation of other (peripheral) alkynyl groups . The potential for generalization of the site-selectivity to other [2 + 2 + n ] reactions is demonstrated by identification of a Cp 2 Zr-mediated [2 + 2 + 1]/metallacycle transfer sequence for synthesis of an alkynylated, selenophene-annulated PAH. The new PAHs are excellent synthons for macrocyclic conjugated nanocarbons. As a proof of concept, four were subjected to alkyne metathesis catalysis to afford large, PAH-containing arylene ethylene macrocycles, which possess a range of cavity sizes reaching well into the nanometer regime. Notably,more »
Synthetic mimics of cyclic antimicrobial peptides via templated ring-opening metathesis (TROM)
We utilized a templated ring-opening metathesis (TROM) strategy to synthesize a series of precision macrocyclic olefins, each containing two, three or four repeating units of a cyclooctene with pendant carboxylic acid side chains. The structures were confirmed by a combination of NMR spectroscopy, MALDI, and MALDI ms/ms fragmentation studies. In accordance with previous work, we found that cyclooctene monomers covalently tethered to precision oligo(thiophene)s yield exclusively macrocyclic products when subjected to the Grubbs 3 rd generation catalyst in highly dilute solution (10 −4 M in DCM, 0 °C). Upon hydrolytic liberation of the daughter oligo(olefin) product, further derivatization with cationic groups confers antibacterial and hemolytic activities. We compare the biological activity of these precision macrocycles to that of a polydisperse sample prepared by direct ROM in the absence of a template. Surprisingly, the relatively ill-defined, disperse mixture of oligomeric species exerted biological activity comparable to that of the precision oligomeric macrocycles, suggesting a remarkable degree of tolerance for heterogeneity. These findings provide nuance to the structure–activity relationships understood thus far for AMPs and their mimics, especially in the context of relatively underexplored macrocyclic compounds.
- Award ID(s):
- 1653418
- Publication Date:
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10123073
- Journal Name:
- Polymer Chemistry
- ISSN:
- 1759-9954
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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