β‐Cyclodextrin as an Efficient and Recyclable Supramolecular Catalyst for the Synthesis of Heterocyclic Compounds

β‐Cyclodextrin (β‐CD ), a naturally occurring supramolecular structure, is an effective catalyst for the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds. Its ubiquity, high performance, nontoxicity, ease of separation, and reusability have drawn the attention of green chemists. Here we present the synthetic procedures of heterocyclic compounds catalyzed by β‐CD in water and compare them with those using organic solvents. In many cases, using water as the solvent shows better efficiency than conventional organic solvents with regard to catalytic activity and simplicity of recycling procedures. This review highlights the applications of β‐CD in catalysis covering the years 2004–2016.     

Self-assembly of 2,6-dimethylpyridine on Cu(1 1 0) directed by weak hydrogen bonding

Sequential stages of formation of a self-assembled monolayer of flat-lying 2,6-dimethylpyridine molecules on a single crystal Cu(1 1 0) surface have been observed by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (LT-STM). At an adsorption temperature of 10 K, all of the molecules are randomly distributed at low coverage upon adsorption. The isolated molecules align their molecular axes parallel to the 〈0 0 1〉 azimuth of the Cu lattice. The nitrogen atom in the molecule is located at the four-fold hollow site. Upon annealing to 100 K, the molecules associate to form head-to-head dimers. The dimer units involve a pair of weak hydrogen bonds between methyl group-hydrogen atoms and N moieties on adjacent molecules, forming a core structure for further growth. In a later stage of self-assembly, single head-to-tail weak hydrogen bonds between ring C-H bonds and N moieties form in chains on the periphery of the central cores, leading to larger domains with a c(6 × 2) overlayer structure.     

Assembly of ethylzincate compounds into supramolecular structures

Sodium and potassium triethylzincate were isolated by Wanklyn in 1858, and are corner stones in the history of organometallic chemistry. Crystallisation of organozincates from neat dialkylzinc, in the absence of a coordinating solvent, can be expected to result in assembly of supramolecular structures, rather than formation of discrete molecules in the crystalline state. This inspired us to reinvestigate Wanklyn’s classical compounds. Crystallisation of sodium triethylzincate from benzene led to metallation of benzene and the formation of diethylphenylzincate anions. The compound is a two-dimensional network where Na⁺ ions link the zincate anions by coordination to both ethyl- and phenyl groups. We have also, accidently, isolated crystals of the two-dimensional coordination network [K₂(ZnEt₂)₄O]_n, displaying a rare oxo-centred core with an octahedral oxide ion surrounded by four zinc atoms and two potassium atoms.     

Peptide dendrimer-crosslinked inorganic-organic hybrid supramolecular hydrogel for efficient anti-biofouling

A novel kind of inorganic-organic hybrid supramolecular hydrogel with excellent anti-biofouling capability was developed. The hydrogel was formed via ionic interaction between the negative-charged sodium polyacrylate (SPA) entwined clay nanosheets (CNS) and positive-charged polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) core-based generation one (L-Arginine) dendrimer (POSS-R).     

2,2′:6′,2″-联三吡啶配体的合成

近年来,2,2′:6′,2″-联三吡啶作为典型的三齿有机杂环配体在超分子化学与材料化学领域得到广泛应用。通过取代基团对配体的结构修饰或改变金属离子的类型可以调控联三吡啶金属络合物的光物理和电化学性能,从而得到多种不同用途的功能化材料及超分子组装体。本文对单核联三吡啶配体近年来发展的典型合成方法加以阐述,并简单介绍联三吡啶配体在超分子化学中的应用。     

Specific recognition of syndiotactic poly(methacrylic acid) in porous isotactic poly(methyl methacrylate) thin films based on the effects of stereoregularity,temperature, and solvent

The effects of stereoregularity, temperature, and solvent on the specific recognition of syndiotactic (st)‐poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) in macromolecularly porous isotactic (it)‐poly(methyl methacrylate) films were investigated to give important insights into the regularity and stability of nanospaces in the it‐PMMA films as well as template polymerization. The porous it‐PMMA films were fabricated on quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) substrates via the layer‐by‐layer (LbL) assembly of it‐PMMA/st‐PMAA, plus the st‐PMAA extraction from the assembly. QCM analysis and infrared spectroscopy revealed the first case of stereocomplex formation using st‐PMAA with lower stereoregularity (rr = 73%) in the LbL films, while st‐PMAA obtained with conventional free radical polymerization (rr = 62%) was barely incorporated into the porous it‐PMMA films. The maximum st‐PMAA incorporation increased from 25 to 40 °C, but there were almost no difference between 40 and 55 °C, indicating that the it‐PMMA crystallization would also be accelerated with increasing temperature. The studies on st‐PMAA incorporation with various complexing solvents revealed that the host it‐PMMA in the porous films could only form the original stereocomplex with 2/1 unit‐molar stoichiometry (st‐PMAA/it‐PMMA) in acetonitrile/water or ethanol/water. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 3651–3657, 2010     

Phenol-triggered supramolecular transformation of titanium–oxo cluster based coordination capsules

Supramolecular transformations of coordination cage or capsule have received much attention recently,which help elucidate this natural self-assembly behavior in biological systems.The current study describes the first supramolecular transformation of titanium-o rganic coordination capsule triggered by phenol(and H_3 PO_3).The structural alterations are accompanied by the reconstruction of 5-coordinated Ti centers to 6-coordinated ones.Meanwhile,different amounts of encapsulated phenol guest molecules can be identified,dependent on the sizes of the obtained cavities.In addition,they display much better visible light absorption and air stability than the isopropanol stabilized ones.     

Thermo gravimetric analysis of supramolecular complexes of p-tert-butylcalix[6]arene and ammonium cations: crystal structure of diethylammonium complex

Thermo gravimetric analysis of ammonium-p-tert-butylcalix[6]arene salts were carried out to determine the stoichiometry of the inclusion compounds and the temperature of leaving of the ammonium cation, as amine, from the solid phase by a reverse proton transfer reaction to calixarene. The chain length of the amine molecules and their relative basicity order are the main factors which determine the decomplexation temperatures for the ammonium salts of piperidinium, diethylammonium, ethylenediammonium, morpholinium, s-butylammonium, butylammonium, hexylammonium and triethylammonium salts of p-tert-butylcalix[6]arene anion. The solid state structure of bis-diethylammonium-p-tert-butylcalix[6]arene dianion is reported. The calix moiety adopts a 1,2,3 alternate conformation, with one ammonium as exo-calix and other as endo-calix, with an intricate array of hydrogen bonds between phenol, phenolate and ammonium cations.     

Mechanism of N-octadecyl-N′-maleoyl-L-phenylalanine self-assembled into supramolecular structures

N-Octadecyl-N′-maleoyl-L-phenylalanine(ODMA-L-Phe)was synthesized through the condensation,deprotection and acid- ylation reaction of BOC-L-phenylalauine,octadecylamine and maleic anhydride,ODMA-L-Phe can self-assemble in some organic solvents and turned them into thermally reversible physical supramolecular organogels.The morphology of ODMA-L-Phe aggregates was characterized by polarized optical microscopy(POM)and field emission scanning electron microscope(FE-SEM). The aggregates of ODMA-L-Phe were needle-like fibrils with diameters of approximately 100-200 nm.The mechanism of ODMA- L-Phe serf-assembly in organic solvents was investigated using ~1H NMR and circular dichroism(CD).The results indicated that hydrogen bonding was one of the main driving forces for the self-assembly of ODMA-L-Phe.