Biologically Active Heteroglycoclusters Constructed on a Pillar[5]arene‐Containing [2]Rotaxane Scaffold

A synthetic approach combining recent concepts for the preparation of multifunctional nanomolecules (click chemistry on multifunctional scaffolds) with supramolecular chemistry (self‐assembly to prepare rotaxanes) gave easy access to a large variety of sophisticated [2]rotaxane heteroglycoclusters. Specifically, compounds combining galactose and fucose have been prepared to target the two bacterial lectins (LecA and LecB) from the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa.     

Diversity Oriented Preparation of Pillar[5]arene-Containing [2]Rotaxanes by a Stopper Exchange Strategy

Rotaxane building blocks bearing 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl) benzenesulfonate (BTBS) stoppers have been efficiently prepared from a pillar[5]arene derivative, 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl) benzenesulfonyl chloride (BTBSCl) and different diols, namely 1,10-decanediol and 1,12-dodecanediol. The BTBS moieties of these compounds are good leaving groups and stopper exchange reactions could be achieved by treatment with different nucleophiles thus affording rotaxanes with ester, thioether or ether stoppers.     

A Fullerene‐Substituted Pillar[5]arene for the Construction of a Photoactive Rotaxane

Transformation of a methylene group of the pillar[5]arene scaffold into a ketone has been achieved by treatment with N‐bromosuccinimide followed by hydrolysis of the bromide intermediate and oxidation of the resulting secondary benzylic alcohol with BaMnO₄. Condensation of the resulting macrocycle including a ketone function with p‐toluenesulfonyl hydrazide followed by reaction of the corresponding tosylhydrazone with C₆₀ under modified Bamford–Stevens conditions gave a fulleropillar[5]arene derivative. This building block has been used to prepare a rotaxane. The resulting molecule combining the fullerene‐functionalized macrocycle with an axle bearing a porphyrin stopper is a photoactive molecular device in which the porphyrin emission is efficiently quenched by the fullerene moiety.     

Piling Up Pillar[5]arenes To Self‐Assemble Nanotubes

New liquid‐crystalline pillar[5]arene derivatives have been prepared by grafting first‐generation Percec‐type poly(benzylether) dendrons onto the macrocyclic scaffold. The molecules adopt a disc‐shaped structure perfectly suited for self‐organization into a columnar liquid‐crystalline phase. In this way, the pillar[5]arene cores are piled up, thus forming a nanotubular wire encased within a shell of peripheral dendrons. The capability of pillar[5]arenes to form inclusion complexes has been also exploited. Specifically, detailed binding studies have been carried out in solution with 1,6‐dicyanohexane as the guest. Inclusion complexes have also been prepared in the solid state. Supramolecular organization into the Col_h mesophase has been deduced from X‐ray diffraction data and found to be similar to that observed within the crystal lattice of a model inclusion complex prepared from 1,4‐dimethoxypillar[5]arene and 1,6‐dicyanohexane.     

柱[6]芳烃的合成及在分子识别中的应用研究进展

柱芳烃是近年来超分子研究领域中备受关注的一类新型大环主体化合物。与柱[5]芳烃相比,柱[6]芳烃因具有更大的管状空腔结构而表现出了独特的主客体性能。介绍了柱[6]芳烃的结构与构象,并重点阐述了柱[6]芳烃的合成方法以及在分子识别中的应用研究进展。     

Grafting Dendrons onto Pillar[5]Arene Scaffolds

With their ten peripheral substituents, pillar[5]arenes are attractive compact scaffolds for the construction of nanomaterials with a controlled number of functional groups distributed around the macrocyclic core. This review paper is focused on the functionalization of pillar[5]arene derivatives with small dendrons to generate dendrimer-like nanomaterials and bioactive compounds. Examples include non-viral gene vectors, bioactive glycoclusters, and liquid-crystalline materials.     

A Water-Soluble Leggero Pillar[5]arene

The study of aqueous-phase molecular recognition of artificial receptors is one of the frontiers in supramolecular chemistry since most biochemical processes and reactions take place in an aqueous medium and heavily rely on it. In this work, a water-soluble version of leggero pillar[5]arene bearing eight positively charged pyridinium moieties (CWP[5]L) was designed and synthesized, which exhibited good binding affinities with certain aliphatic sulfonate species in aqueous solutions. Significantly, control experiments demonstrate that the guest binding performance of CWP[5]L is superior to its counterpart water-soluble macrocyclic receptor in traditional pillararenes.     

基于甲氧基柱[5]芳烃的聚丙烯酸酯有机膜对对硝基苯衍生物的吸附行为

柱芳烃是一类有别于冠醚、杯芳烃、葫芦脲等的柱状大环分子,具有独特的富电子空腔和口腔的可修饰性。 它们可以包结多种有机污染物,对有机污染物的吸附和脱除具有广泛的应用前景。 本文通过核磁共振和紫外滴定的方法首先研究了对硝基苯衍生物与甲氧基柱[5]芳烃(MeP5A)的包结行为,测定了包结常数。 在此基础上,将MeP5A物理混合到聚丙烯酸酯(PA)乳液中,首先制备了甲氧基柱[5]芳烃/聚丙烯酸酯(MeP5A/PA)共混乳液,然后通过静电纺丝技术,得到了MeP5A/PA纳米纤维膜。 采用红外光谱、扫描电子显微镜对MeP5A/PA纳米纤维膜的结构和形貌进行了表征。 将MeP5A/PA纳米纤维膜用于4种对硝基苯衍生物的吸附实验。 结果表明,对硝基苯乙腈显示出与MeP5A最强的包结作用,其K_a=(6.0±0.3)×10² L/mol,PA膜中引入MeP5A,增大了吸附量,但并未改变纤维状形貌。 MeP5A/PA纳米纤维膜的最佳吸附平衡时间为2 h,且MeP5A/PA纳米纤维膜中MeP5A的含量越高,吸附量越大。 但当吸附溶液中MeP5A浓度达到4 mmol/L时(对应的膜中含有的MeP5A物质的量为1.4×10^-2 mmol),其吸附基本达到平衡,继续增加MeP5A物质的量,其吸附量变化不大。     

Thermally Responsive Poly(ethylene oxide)-Based Polyrotaxanes Bearing Hydrogen-Bonding Pillar[5]arene Rings**

Poly(ethylene oxide)s (PEOs) are useful polymers with good water solubility, biological compatibility, and commercial availability. PEOs with various end groups were threaded into pillar[5]arene rings in a mixture of water and methanol to afford pseudopolyrotaxanes. Corresponding polyrotaxanes were also constructed by capping COOH-terminated pseudopolyrotaxanes with bulky amines, in which multiple hydrogen bonds involving the pillar[5]arene OH groups were critically important to prevent dethreading. The number of threaded ring components could be rationally controlled in these materials, providing a simple and versatile method to tune the mechanical and thermal properties. Specifically, a polyrotaxane with a high-molecular-weight axle became elastic upon heating above the melting point of PEOs and exhibited temperature-dependent shape memory property because of the topological confinement and crosslinked hydrogen bonds.     

Host–Guest Complexation of Perethylated Pillar[5]arene with Alkanes in the Crystal State

Activated perethylated pillar[5]arene crystals show an unexpected alkane‐shape‐ and ‐length‐selective gate‐opening behavior. Activated crystals were obtained upon removing solvents from perethylated pillar[5]arene crystals by heating. The activated crystals could quantitatively take up n‐alkanes with carbon chains containing more than five carbon atoms as a consequence of their gate‐opening pressure. As the chain length of the n‐alkanes increased, the gate pressure decreased. A transformation into a herringbone structure was induced when n‐hexane was used as a guest. By contrast, cyclic and branched alkanes were not taken up and could not induce a crystal transformation because they were too large to fit in the cavities of the pillar[5]arene. Alkane‐shape‐selective molecular recognition of pillar[5]arenes in the solution state was translated into the vapor/crystal state.     

柱芳烃的合成与应用

综述了近四年来新型超分子主体化合物柱芳烃的合成、发展和应用.其中,柱芳烃及其衍生物的合成主要有两种有机化学合成策略,即"先成环后修饰"和"先修饰后成环".由于这类新型主体化合物具有非常特殊的空间结构和理化性质,目前,它主要应用在主客体包合与分子识别、自组装体系的构筑和智能材料等领域.     

Host‐Guest Complexations Between Pillar[6]arenes and Neutral Pentaerythritol Derivatives

It is demonstrated that three kinds of neutral pentaerythritol derivatives possess promising host‐guest complexations with pillar[6]arenes both in solution and in the solid state. The inclusion structures were characterized by NMR spectroscopy and X‐ray crystallography. The complexation properties in different solvents were also investigated.     

四氨基柱[5]芳烃二聚体的合成、结构及性质研究

构象固定的刚性多环主体分子为构筑高级复杂的机械互锁结构提供了重要平台. 为挑战合成刚性多环主体并进一步构筑多层次机械互锁结构, 氧杂杯[4]芳烃桥连的柱[5]芳烃二聚体经过Raney Ni催化氢化还原硝基、与叔丁氧羰基(Boc)-β-丙氨酸缩合和脱去N-Boc保护基三步反应, 生成了四氨基柱[5]芳烃二聚体. X射线单晶衍射实验表明三环目标主体分子具有双桶望远镜形状, 并且构象刚性, 随取代基不同仅有微小变化. 此外, 该四氨基二聚体可作为主体与己二腈形成高稳定性的1∶2络合物. 该研究为制备复杂超分子体系提供了新的机会.     

Biomimetic Approach for Highly Selective Artificial Water Channels Based on Tubular Pillar[5]arene Dimers

Artificial water channels mimicking natural aquaporins (AQPs) can be used for selective and fast transport of water. Here, we quantify the transport performances of peralkyl-carboxylate-pillar[5]arenes dimers in bilayer membranes. They can transport ≈10⁷ water molecules/channel/second, within one order of magnitude of the transport rates of AQPs, rejecting Na⁺ and K⁺ cations. The dimers have a tubular structure, superposing pillar[5]arene pores of 5 Å diameter with twisted carboxy-phenyl pores of 2.8 Å diameter. This biomimetic platform, with variable pore dimensions within the same structure, offers size restriction reminiscent of natural proteins. It allows water molecules to selectively transit and prevents bigger hydrated cations from passing through the 2.8 Å pore. Molecular simulations prove that dimeric or multimeric honeycomb aggregates are stable in the membrane and form water pathways through the bilayer. Over time, a significant shift of the upper vs. lower layer occurs initiating new unexpected water permeation events through toroidal pores.     

基于柱[5]芳烃的超分子组装研究进展

介绍了柱[5]芳烃基于主客体性质和柱状立体结构的超分子组装,以及边缘取代基对柱[5]芳烃的溶解性、功能性和主客体性质的影响。     

Langmuir and Langmuir–Blodgett Films from Amphiphilic Pillar[5]arene‐Containing [2]Rotaxanes

Amphiphilic pillar[5]arene‐containing [2]rotaxanes have been prepared and fully characterized. In the particular case of the [2]rotaxane incorporating a 1,4‐diethoxypillar[5]arene subunit, the structure of the compound was confirmed by X‐ray crystal structure analysis. Owing to a good hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance, stable Langmuir films have been obtained for these rotaxanes and the size of the peripheral alkyl chains on the pillar[5]arene subunit has a dramatic influence on the reversibility during compression–decompression cycles. Indeed, when these are small enough, molecular reorganization of the rotaxane by gliding motions are capable of preventing strong π–π interactions between neighboring macrocycles in the thin film.     

Dynamic Self‐Assembly Adhesion of a Paraquat Droplet on a Pillar[5]arene Surface

The adhesion of herbicide droplets on leaf surfaces plays an important role in the herbicide's adsorption by crops. How to control the adhesive binding which occurs through dynamic self‐assembly between the macroscopic droplet and the surface is a challenging task. We introduce a host onto surfaces that controls the binding of guests in the paraquat droplets. The pillar[5]arene‐functional surface showed the selective binding of paraquat droplets via the host–guest interaction. The work is promising for improving the efficiency of herbicides.     

Temperature-Dependent and pH-Responsive Pillar[5]arene-Based Complexes and Hydrogen-Bond-Based Supramolecular Pentagonal Boxes in Water

Supramolecular systems in water are of paramount importance and those based on hydrogen bonds are both intriguing and scarce. Here, after studying the peculiar host–guest complexes formed between per-dimethylamino-pillar[5]arene ( 1 ) and the bis-sulfonates 2 a – c , we describe the formation of the first hydrogen-bond-based supramolecular pentagonal boxes (SPBs), which are stable in water. These pH-responsive SPBs are constructed from 1 as a body, benzene polycarboxylic acids 3 a , b as lid compounds, and 2 a – c as guests. We demonstrate that encapsulation of 2 a – c in pillar[5]arene 1 and in the highly stable water-soluble SPBs, that is, 1(3 a) ₂ and 1(3 b) ₂, is both temperature and pH dependent and, quite interestingly, depends, on the nature of the lid compounds used for capping the boxes even at high pH. We also highlight the difference in the ¹H NMR characteristics of 2 b and 2 c in the cavity of 1 and the SPBs.     

Applications of Pillar[n]arene‐Based Supramolecular Assemblies

Macrocycles are an important player in supramolecular chemistry. In 2008, a new class of macrocycles, “pillar[n]arenes”, were first discovered. Research efforts in the area of pillar[n]arenes have elucidated key properties, such as their shape, reaction mechanism, host–guest properties, and their versatile functionality, which has contributed to the development of pillar[n]arene chemistry and their applications to various fields. This Minireview describes how pillar[n]arene‐based supramolecular assemblies can be applied to supramolecular gel formation, reactions, light‐harvesting systems, drug‐delivery systems, biochemical applications, separation and storage materials, and surface chemistry.