New strapped porphyrins as hosts for fullerenes: synthesis and complexation study

New strapped porphyrin-based hosts with different π-conjugated moieties and linkers have been prepared and their ability to bind with fullerenes was studied in dilute solution. We found that the ability of these hosts to bind with fullerenes strongly depends on their chemical nature and more precisely on the substitution pattern of the porphyrin deck. As expected, the more electron-rich hosts containing either an exTTF or a porphyrin unit as the strap bind fullerenes more efficiently with association constants of up to 3.9 × 10(5) M(-1). The results clearly demonstrate the potential of such hosts as a supramolecular scaffold for surface immobilization of pristine fullerenes.     

Structure-activity relationships in the acceleration of a hetero Diels-Alder reaction by metalloporphyrin hosts

At 0.33 mM in dichloromethane at 25 degrees C the cyclic metalloporphyrin hosts 5, 7, 8, and 10 accelerate 12-fold, 260-fold, 1130-fold, and 250-fold, respectively, the reaction of 1 and 2 and also bind the product 3 very strongly. These observations combined with previously measured results with hosts 6, 9, and 11 allowed us to explore the influence of host geometry changes on acceleration rates and product binding over a wide range of host molecules of different size, ranging from extremely tightly strapped to very relaxed. To estimate the Zn-Zn distance in the transition-state complex, we carried out quantum mechanical calculations (at the HF/6-31G level) for the transition state to form 3. The structure-activity relationships found for hosts 5-11, along with the structural features calculated for the transition-state structure between 1 and 2 and previously crystallographically observed for product-free hosts and for a host.product complex,(4) suggest that both host preorganization as well as host flexibility are key features leading to high acceleration rates and product binding and that it is the delicate balance between the two structural features that leads to maximum efficiency.     

金属卟啉配合物的分子识别研究进展

综述了金属卟啉配合物的分子识别研究进展。介绍了金属卟啉配合物在分子形状与大小识别、官能团识别和手性识别方面的研究概况。     

Fullerene-templated synthesis of a cyclic porphyrin trimer using olefin metathesis

An olefination approach to the construction of covalently linked cyclic metalloporphyrin trimers is presented using fullerenes such as C(60) or C(70) as a template. Yields of the trimer approach 60%. In the absence of a template, the major product is the cyclic dimer (50% yield) with only a small amount of trimer (<10%) formed, indicating this is a template-directed approach.     

3]rotaxane-porphyrin conjugate as a novel supramolecular host for fullerenes

A new supramolecular host with good affinity toward fullerenes has been developed. This host having a tweezer-like shape is built on a [3]rotaxane scaffold and contains two free-base porphyrin moieties as recognition units for fullerenes. The ability of this tweezer to bind fullerenes strongly depends on the solvent system used and the size of fullerene.     

Structural characteristics of soluble fullerene films

Films of two fullerenes, functionalized with different solubilizing moieties, in the pure form and blended with poly(3-hexylthiophene), have been investigated by cyclic voltammetry, X-ray diffraction and UV-Vis spectroscopy techniques. The conclusion drawn from this characterization is that the supramolecular order of the films affects the physicochemical characteristics of these materials, and depends on the nature of the solubilizing substituents linked to the fullerene moiety. Implications for the use of such films in fullerene-based solar cells are also presented and discussed.     

Selective extraction of higher fullerenes using cyclic dimers of zinc porphyrins

Higher fullerenes (>/=C76) were selectively extracted from a fullerene mixture obtained from a combustion-based industrial production source by cyclic dimers of beta-unsubstituted porphyrin zinc complexes 2C5-2C7 with C5-C7 alkylene spacers as host molecules. Results of single extraction of the fullerene mixture with 2C5-2C7 together with a beta-substituted analogue of 2C6 (1C6) and spectroscopic titration of 2C6 and 1C6 with C60, C70, and C96 indicated that the host selectivity toward higher fullerenes is much dependent on the structure of the porphyrin units and the size of the host cavity. Sequential three-stage extraction of the fullerene mixture with the best-behaved 2C6 resulted in considerable enrichment in very rare fullerenes C102-C110 (<0.1 abs %) up to 82 abs % (C76-C114, 99 abs %) (356 nm) of total fullerenes.     

Synthesis of cyclic chlorophyll oligomers

As a new model of photosynthetic light-harvesting antennas, cyclic dimer, trimer, and tetramer of chlorophyllous moieties were prepared by intermolecular transesterification of a hydroxy-methoxycarbonyl-chlorin using 1,3-dichlorotetrabutyl distannoxane as a catalyst. ¹H NMR and UV-vis spectra showed that the cyclic oligomers tended to form stacked conformers through intramolecular π-π interactions of the chlorin macrocycles. It was demonstrated that the cyclic trimer could form a complex with fullerenes in CDCl₃.     

Supramolecular architectures of functionalized tetraphenylmetalloporphyrins in crystalline solids. Studies of the 4-methoxyphenyl, 4-hydroxyphenyl and 4-chlorophenyl derivatives

Abstract

A series of new ‘inclusion’ materials based on tetra-4-methoxyphenyl, tetra-4-hydroxyphenyl and tetra-4-chlorophenyl derivatives of the metalloporphyrin system, in combination with a wide variety of guest molecules and ligands, have been prepared, and their structural systematics analysed. Crystallographic investigations have confirmed that the supramolecular arrangement of the hydroxyphenylporphyrin species is dominated by interporphyrin directional hydrogen-bonding interactions, and consists of continuous networks of strongly coordinated entities with varying degrees of cross-linking and rigidity. Guest molecules can be absorbed in these solids in distinctly defined sites of the lattice: in the small interhost cages of fixed size between adjacent intercoordinated porphyrin hosts, or in extended one-dimensional channels formed between the hydrogen bonded host arrays running parallel or perpendicular to the porphyrin plane. For polar ligands with strong nucleophiles, their potential coordination to the metal center provides an additional recognition factor. The stacking mode (offset geometry or overlapping) of the host metalloporphyrin arrays is also affected by the nature of the incorporated guest/ligand. Materials based on the chloro-substituted porphyrins were found to form similarly networked structural modes, influenced by the molecular shape as well as by halogen-halogen noncovalent interactions. Formation of a polar tubular intermolecular architecture capable of aligning organic dipolar guest molecule in the crystal bulk has also been demonstrated. The methoxy-substituted materials form clathrate-type structures characterized by dense layered arrangement of the porphyrin building blocks in two-dimensions. The various structural features directing the observed modes of the supramolecular architecture, and affecting the host structure as well as the guest mobility in it, are discussed.     

p-tert-Butylcalix[8]arene-bonded silica monoliths for liquid chromatography

Monolithic silica columns have inspired considerable research interests in the separation science because of their unique properties in permeability, mass transfer, efficiency and throughput. In this paper, a chemically p-tert-butylcalix[8]arene-bonded silica monolith was prepared as the promising candidate for versatile LC separations. Micrometer-sized macropores and nanometer-sized mesopores in this derivatized silica monolith reduce the diffusion path length and provide both low backpressure and high column efficiencies, leading to high-speed and high-throughput separations. Since p-tert-butylcalix[8]arene possesses a pi-donors cavity composed of benzene rings while polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, anthraquinones, phenol regio isomers and fullerenes are pi-systems with appreciable electron affinity, they may have a chance to get involved in forming host-guest inclusion complexes through non-covalent interactions, e.g. hydrophobic and pi-pi interactions. Compared with RP-18e, the prepared calixarene-bonded monolith exhibited better selectivity to molecules which contains more pi-electrons and more condensed cyclic moieties. The column efficiency was about 22,000 plates/m. The calixarene-bonded monolith also showed its good performances in separation of fullerenes and dihydropyridines, indicating a promising approach for purification of fullerenes with high purity from the carbon soot.     

Supramolecular fullerene-porphyrin chemistry. Fullerene complexation by metalated "jaws porphyrin" hosts

Porphyrins and fullerenes are spontaneously attracted to each other. This new supramolecular recognition element is explored in discrete, soluble, coordinatively linked porphyrin and metalloporphyrin dimers. Jawlike clefts in these bis-porphyrins are effective hosts for fullerene guests. X-ray structures of the Cu complex with C60 and free-base complexes with C70 and a pyrrolidine-derivatized C60 have been obtained. The electron-rich 6:6 ring-juncture bonds of C60 show unusually close approach to the porphyrin or metalloporphyrin plane. Binding constants in toluene solution increase in the order Fe(II) < Pd(II) < Zn(II) < Mn(II) < Co(II) < Cu(II) < 2H and span the range 490-5200 M-1. Unexpectedly, the free-base porphyrin binds C60 more strongly than the metalated porphyrins. This is ascribed to electrostatic forces, enhancing the largely van der Waals forces of the pi-pi interaction. The ordering with metals is ascribed to a subtle interplay of solvation and weak interaction forces. Conflicting opinions on the relative importance of van der Waals forces, charge transfer, electrostatic attraction, and coordinate bonding are addressed. The supramolecular design principles arising from these studies have potential applications in the preparation of photophysical devices, molecular magnets, molecular conductors, and porous metal-organic frameworks.     

Molecular recognition: minimizing the acid–base interaction of a tunable host–guest system changes the selectivity of binding

Two new receptors incorporating a 4-n-butyl aniline moiety has been designed, synthesized and evaluated for their binding properties towards a series of ureido-glycine derivatives. The host design is based on an urea adamantyl host motif known from large generations of poly(propylene imine) dendrimers functionalized with urea adamantyl moieties on the periphery. The design of the host molecules was directed towards a study of the effects of basicity of an amine function versus the effect of molecular recognition on the binding strength as seen from comparing the results obtained in the present work with previously guest–host studies. The guest–host interaction features an electrostatic interaction and multiple hydrogen binding interactions, where the main difference between the hosts described here and previously described is a substitution from an amine to aniline. Anilines are weaker bases than aliphatic amines and they generally give lower binding constants when treated with acidic guest molecules. The association constants have been measured using NMR titrations and the nature of the guest–host system is discussed based on these results. A general decrease in binding affinities is observed upon changing from the trialkyl amine hosts to the dialkyl aniline based hosts. One exception was observed where the weaker base host had stronger affinity to one of the guests. Thus, when the basicity of the host is decreased other factors influence the binding such as a better geometric fit. A crystal structure of one of the receptors has been solved and it shows no intramolecular hydrogen bonding.     

八元瓜环与二(2-亚甲基-1,2,3,4-四氢异喹啉)的自组装模式

以用1,2,3,4-四氢喹啉和二溴乙烷合成的二(2-亚甲基-1,2,3,4-四氢异喹啉)的溴化氢酸盐为客体, 八元瓜环为主体, 利用1H NMR技术, 单晶X射线衍射方法以及理论计算等方法, 考察了两者的自组装模式. 1H NMR分析结果表明, 在溶液状态条件下, 不仅每一个八元瓜环分子同时与两个客体分子的芳环部分相互作用, 而且每一个客体分子两端的芳环部分同时与两个八元瓜环分子相互作用, 从而形成一维的自组装超分子链; 而在固体状态下, 每一个八元瓜环也可同时包结两个客体的芳环部分而形成三元的自组装结构, 但八元瓜环包结两个客体形成一独立的三元自组装结构. 利用晶体结构建立模型的计算结果说明, 模拟溶液状态比固体状态条件下的主客体包结更有利于体系能量的降低, 与主客体在溶液中1H NMR实验结果相符.     

Heterocalixarene Inclusion Chemistry. Structure of a Crystalline Host-Guest Complex Including endo-Calix Ethyl Acetate and exo-Calix Clustering of Water

The X-ray crystal structure of the solvent inclusion compound formed between heterocalix[8]arene 1, ethyl acetate and water (1 : 1 : 4.5) has been studied. The compound crystallized in tetragonal space group I4₁/a, a = b = 21.278(3), c = 31.290(4) Å, V = 14167(4) ų, Z = 8. The host molecule, incorporating benzimidazol-2-one and 2,5-dimethoxy-1,3-phenylene subunits in an alternate cyclic arrangement, forms an almost perfectly closed cavity which encapsulates one solvent ethyl acetate guest molecule. Water molecules being entrapped in the lattice cages in the form of cyclic and linear clusters bind the bulky inclusion complexes via H-bonds in infinite layers. Two symmetry center related benzimidazole-2-one moieties of two hosts from neighbouring layers in the crystal lattice are arranged such that they partially overlap exhibiting stacking interaction.     

Molecular Recognition Based on Membrane Potential Changes Induced by Host–Guest Complexation with Inorganic and Organic Guests

Guest-induced changes in membrane potentials are one of the representative modes of electrochemical signal transduction by molecular recognition at the interface of an organic membrane and an aqueous solution. Recent approaches based on synthetic hosts capable of effecting membrane potential changes by host–guest complexation with inorganic and organic guests are described. Although the studies in this area have mainly been aimed at inorganic cations as the target guests, recent approaches for recognition of inorganic anions and further organic guests are also documented. Highly selective changes in membrane potentials can be achieved for inorganic cations by sophisticated design of crown ethers and related compounds. Hosts with complementary charge(s) or multiple hydrogen bonding sites are effective for the recognition of inorganic anions and also of the polar moieties of organic ions. On the other hand, the recognition of nonpolar moieties of organic guests can be achieved by inclusion into well-defined cavities of host molecules. Quaternary onium and protonated amine salts are recently found to be capable of effecting membrane potential changes by complexation with neutral phenolic guests.     

Nanosized polymetallic resorcinarene-based host assemblies that strongly bind fullerenes

Polymetallic nanodimensional assemblies have been prepared via metal directed assembly of dithiocarbamate functionalized cavitand structural frameworks with late transition metals (Ni, Pd, Cu, Au, Zn, and Cd). The coordination geometry about the metal centers is shown to dictate the architecture adopted. X-ray crystallographic studies confirm that square planar coordination geometries result in "cagelike" octanuclear complexes, whereas square-based pyramidal metal geometries favor hexanuclear "molecular loop" structures. Both classes of complex are sterically and electronically complementary to the fullerenes (C(60) and C(70)). The strong binding of these guests occurred via favorable interactions with the sulfur atoms of multiple dithiocarbamate moieties of the hosts. In the case of the tetrameric copper(II) complexes, the lability of the copper(II)-dithiocarbamate bond enabled the fullerene guests to be encapsulated in the electron-rich cavity of the host, over time. The examination of the binding of fullerenes has been undertaken using spectroscopic and electrochemical methods, electrospray mass spectrometry, and molecular modeling.     

Fullerenes in Sol-Gel Materials

The family of fullerene molecules is composed of a large variety of compounds that have been synthesized following the discovery of C₆₀ in 1985. The chemistry of fullerenes, developed in these last years, has allowed designing the properties of this family of molecules for specific applications in materials science. One of the main tasks to build up solid state devices based on fullerenes is the synthesis of materials doped with a highly dispersed and homogeneous distribution of fullerenes. Many of the peculiar photophysical properties, such as the reverse saturable absorption used to obtain a solid state optical limiter, are in fact lost in the aggregates of fullerenes. Sol-gel processing allows preparing inorganic oxides and hybrid organic-inorganic materials at low temperatures and presents an interesting alternative to organic polymers to entrap molecules of the fullerene family in a solid matrix. Porous inorganic solids and aerogels are also important classes of materials that can be synthesized via sol-gel and can act as hosts of fullerenes. In the present article we have reviewed the main achievements of sol-gel processing of fullerene based nanocomposite materials.     

Binding neutral guests to concave surfaces of molecular hosts. Directional association of water and methylene chloride with hosts containing only cyclic urea binding sites

This paper is concerned with studies of weak intermolecular interactions in molecular inclusion type systems involving uncharged host and guest entities. Three new complexes of synthetic organic ligands with water and methylene chloride have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The hosts are composed of three cyclic urea units whose carbonyl groups are held in convergent positions by bonding their attached nitrogens to one another through two (noncyclic ligand) or three (macrocyclic ligand) rigid spacer units. Conformational organization is further enforced by an aliphatic bridge between two of the phenylene spacers in the macrocyclic hosts and an additional dimerization of the open-chain ligand. The host species were found to be particularly suitable to interact with proton donating H₂O and CH₂Cl₂ guest moieties, as their molecular surface contains appropriately sized polar cavities lined with the carbonyl functions. Association between the interacting components in these complexes is stabilized by O–HO and C–HO hydrogen bonds. In the corresponding crystal structures additional molecules of the solvent are located between units of the complex. The significance of preorganization of the host structure to an efficient guest binding is emphasized by an observation that no stable complexes of a similar but unbridged macrocyclic ligand could be crystallized from the same solvent. The structural features of the inclusion compounds are described in detail, and the host-guest interaction scheme is compared to that observed in complexes of 18-crown-6 with neutral guests. Supplementary Data relating to this article are deposited with the British Library as Supplementary Publication No. SUP 82039 (98 pages)     

Gram-scale synthesis of a covalent nanocage that preserves the redox properties of encapsulated fullerenes

Discrete nanocages provide a way to solubilize, separate, and tune the properties of fullerenes, but these 3D receptors cannot usually be synthesized easily from inexpensive starting materials, limiting their utility. Herein, we describe the first fullerene-binding nanocage (Cage⁴⁺) that can be made efficiently on a gram scale. Cage⁴⁺ was prepared in up to 57% yield by the formation of pyridinium linkages between complemantary porphyrin components that are themselves readily accessible. Cage⁴⁺ binds C₆₀ and C₇₀ with large association constants (>10⁸ M⁻¹), thereby solubilizing these fullerenes in polar solvents. Fullerene association and redox-properties were subsequently investigated across multiple charge states of the host-guest complexes. Remarkably, neutral and singly reduced fullerenes bind with similar strengths, leaving their 0/1⁻ redox couples minimally perturbed and fully reversible, whereas other hosts substantially alter the redox properties of fullerenes. Thus, C₆₀@Cage⁴⁺ and C₇₀@Cage⁴⁺ may be useful as solubilized fullerene derivatives that preserve the inherent electron-accepting and electron-transfer capabilities of the fullerenes. Fulleride dianions were also found to bind strongly in Cage⁴⁺, while further reduction is centered on the host, leading to lowered association of the fulleride guest in the case of C₆₀²⁻.

This report describes the first gram-scale synthesis of a nanocage that can host fullerenes (C₆₀ and C₇₀). The redox properties of the fullerenes are preserved in this host, enabling characterization of complexes with fulleride anions and dianions.     

Incarceration of Higher‐Order Fullerenes within Cyclotriveratrylene‐Based Hemicarcerands Allows Selective Isolation of C76, C78, and C84 from a Commercial Fullerene Mixture

Size‐complementary cyclotriveratrylene (CTV)‐based hosts can incarcerate C₇₆, C₇₈, and C₈₄, thus allowing the selective isolation of these higher‐order fullerenes from a commercially available mixture of fullerenes. The hemicarceplexes, formed after the encapsulation of the size‐complementary fullerenes within the hosts, are isolated by column chromatography and released at elevated temperature, thereby leading to the isolation of C₇₆/C₇₈ and C₈₄ in good purities (up to 95 and 88 %, respectively).