Sterically congested macrobicycles with heteroatomic bridgehead functionality

A series of cyclophanes composed of two triarylelement caps linked by two-atom bridges has been synthesized. The bridgehead functional groups include phosphines in combination with amines, hydrosilanes, methylsilanes, and ethoxysilanes. Computational studies accurately predicted that when the bridgehead substituents are small (lone pairs or protons), an in_,in bridgehead stereochemistry is strongly favored, but larger bridgehead substituents favor the formations of in_,out stereoisomers. The X-ray structures, spectra, and reactivity of these compounds are discussed, as well as the resolution of one of the cyclophanes into pure enantiomers.