Appending functional groups to the exterior of Zn4L4self‐assembled cages allows gated control of anion binding. While the unfunctionalized cages contain aryl groups in the ligand that can freely rotate, attaching inert functional groups creates a “doorstop”, preventing rotation and slowing the guest exchange rate, even though the interiors of the host cavities are identically structured. The effects on anion exchange are subtle and depend on multiple factors, including anion size, the nature of the leaving anion, and the electron‐withdrawing ability and steric bulk of the pendant groups. Multiple exchange mechanisms occur, and the nature of the external groups controls associative and dissociative exchange processes: these bulky groups affect both anion egress and ingress, introducing an extra layer of selectivity to the exchange. Small changes can have large effects: affinities for anions as similar as PF6−and SbF6−can vary by as much as 400‐fold between identically sized cavities.
Modifying the internal substituents of self-assembled cages controls their molecular recognition and optical properties
Self-assembled Fe4 L 6 cage complexes with variable internal functions can be synthesized from a 2,7-dibromocarbazole ligand scaffold, which orients six functional groups to the cage interior. Both ethylthiomethylether and ethyldimethylamino groups can be incorporated. The cages show strong ligand-centered fluorescence emission and a broad range of guest binding properties. Coencapsulation of neutral organic guests is favored in the larger, unfunctionalized cage cavity, whereas the thioether cage has a more sterically hindered cavity that favors 1 : 1 guest binding. Binding affinities up to 10 6 M −1 in CH3 CN are seen. The dimethylamino cage is more complex, as the internal amines display partial protonation and can be deprotonated by amine bases. This amine cage displays affinity for a broad range of neutral organic substrates, with affinities and stoichiometries comparable to that of the similarly sized thioether cage. These species show that simple variations in ligand backbone allow variations in the number and type of functions that can be displayed towards the cavity of self-assembled hosts, which will have applications in biomimetic sensing, catalysis and molecular recognition.
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- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10342271
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Dalton Transactions
- ISSN:
- 1477-9226
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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We demonstrated ion-mobility spectrometry mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) as a powerful tool for interrogating and preserving selective chemistry including non-covalent and host–guest complexes of m -xylene macrocycles formed in solution. The technique readily revealed the unique favorability of a thiourea-containing macrocycle MXT to Zn 2+ to form a dimer complex with the cation in an off-axis sandwich structure having the Zn–S bonds in a tetrahedral coordination environment. Replacing thiourea with urea generates MXU which formed high-order oligomerization with weak binding interactions to neutral DMSO guests detected at every oligomer size. The self-assembly pathway observed for this macrocycle is consistent with the crystalline assembly. Further transformation of urea into squaramide produces MXS, a rare receptor for probing sulfate in solution. Tight complexes were observed for both monomeric and dimeric of MXS in which HSO 4 − bound stronger than SO 4 2− to the host. The position of HSO 4 − at the binding cavity is a 180° inversion of the reported crystallographic SO 4 2− . The MXS dimer formed a prism-like shape with HSO 4 − exhibiting strong contacts with the 8 amine protons of two MXS macrocycles. By eliminating intermolecular interferences, we detected the low energy structures of MXS with collisional cross section (CCS) matching cis – trans and cis – cis squaramides-amines, both were not observed in crystallization trials. The experiments collectively unravel multiple facets of macrocycle chemistry including conformational flexibility, self-assembly and ligand binding; all in one analysis. Our findings illustrate an inexpensive and widely applicable approach to investigate weak but important interactions that define the shape and binding of macrocycles.more » « less
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Abstract Spacious M4L6tetrahedra can act as catalytic inhibitors for base‐mediated reactions. Upon adding only 5 % of a self‐assembled Fe4L6cage complex, the conversion of the conjugate addition between ethylcyanoacetate and β‐nitrostyrene catalyzed by proton sponge can be reduced from 83 % after 75 mins at ambient temperature to <1 % under identical conditions. The mechanism of the catalytic inhibition is unusual: the octacationic Fe4L6cage increases the acidity of exogenous water in the acetonitrile reaction solvent by favorably binding the conjugate acid of the basic catalyst. The inhibition only occurs for Fe4L6hosts with spacious internal cavities: minimal inhibition is seen with smaller tetrahedra or Fe2L3helicates. The surprising tendency of the cationic cage to preferentially bind protonated, cationic ammonium guests is quantified via the comprehensive modeling of spectrophotometric titration datasets.
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1039/D2DT01451C
