Syntheses and Crystal Structures of Functionalized Tetramethyl Resorcinarenes

Tetramethyl resorcinarene, which was obtained by acidic condensation of resorcinol with paraacetoaldehyde, was chemically modified to the functionalized O-acyl, O-tosyl and O-acetate derivatives by corresponding acylation, p-toluenesulfonylation and alkylation reactions. The single crystal structures of these functionalized resorcinarenes and the complex of tetramethyl resorcinarene with 2,2'-bipyridine were determined by X-ray diffraction method. All these resorcinarenes adopt the all-cis configuration with four methyl groups stretching to the down rim and form 1D or 2D structures through H-bonds.