Molecular design of crown ethers. 21.(1,2) synthesis of novel double-armed benzo-15-crown-5 lariats and their complexation thermodynamics with light lanthanoid nitrates in acetonitrile

Three new disubstituted benzo-15-crown-5 derivatives (3-5) have been synthesized from 4',5'-bis(bromomethyl)benzo-15-crown-5 (2) and the corresponding alkanols in the presence of Na(2)S(2), and their complexation thermodynamics with light lanthanoid(III) nitrates (La-Gd) have been studied in anhydrous acetonitrile at 25 degrees C. Plots of K(S) against the reciprocal ionic diameter of lanthanoid exhibited monotonically declining pattern for the parent benzo-15-crown-5 (1) and 3 but showed a characteristic peak at Ce(3+) for 4 and 5. It is interesting to note that the simple extension of the alkyl side chains in 4 and 5 can alter the cation selectivity profiles of 1 and 3. Possessing two 2-oxapropyl groups, 3 gave a comparable K(S) for La(3+) but a significantly decreased K(S) for Ce(3+) compared with the corresponding values for 1, thus exhibiting an exceptionally high La(3+)/Ce(3+) selectivity of 11. Thermodynamically, the complexation of lanthanoid perchlorates with 1 is absolutely entropy-driven in acetonitrile, while the complexation of lanthanoid nitrates with 3-5 is primarily driven by exothermic enthalpy changes with accompanying moderate entropic gain or small entropic loss.