A flexible cyclophane: design, synthesis, and structure of a multibridged tris-tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) macrocycle

The tris-tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) macrocycles 3 with a large end-cavity were effectively synthesized from the readily available tetrakis(cyanoethylthio)TTF by means of a selective deprotection/realkylation sequence followed by an intramolecular coupling reaction. Crystar structure analyses revealed that the neutral molecules include two (3a) or one chloroform molecule (3b) as solvent of crystallization inside the cavity, whereas the I3- salt of 3b, obtained by electrocrystallization, has a molecular structure which is different from that of the neutral molecule in that the cavity has completely collapsed.