Pseudocryptand Hosts for Paraquats and Diquats.

H-bonding interaction of acidic moieties (CHOH, COOH) at the 5- and 5'-positions of bis(1,3-phenylene)-32-crown-10 (1) with di- or tritopic anions leads to enhanced formation of inclusion complexes with N,N'-dialkyl-4,4'-bipyridinium salts ("paraquats", 2); the enforced folding of the crown ethers into pseudocryptands thus leads to pseudo-pseudorotaxanes. Strikingly, in the presence of the most effective anion (trifluoroacetate, TFA), the apparent bimolecular association constants for crown-paraquat complexation increase by more than an order of magnitude and approach those for covalent cryptands derived from the crown ether. Even though they may form pseudocryptands, the picolinate, nicotinate, and isonicotinate diesters 6 of cis-(4,4')-bis(hydroxymethyl)dibenzo-30-crown-10 do not exhibit enhanced binding of either diquat or paraquat relative to the starting diol in contrast to the picolinate ester of isomeric 5,5'-bis(hydroxymethyl)bis(m-phenylene)-32-crown-10, which displayed a higher binding constant than the starting diol.

Complexation equilibria involving salts in non-aqueous solvents: ion pairing and activity considerations.

Complexation of anions, cations and even ion pairs is now an active area of investigation in supramolecular chemistry; unfortunately it is an area fraught with complications when these processes are examined in low polarity organic media. Using a pseudorotaxane complex as an example, apparent K(a2) values (=[complex]/{[salt](o)-[complex]}{[host](o)-[complex]}) for pseudorotaxane formation from dibenzylammonium salts (2-X) and dibenzo-[24]crown-8 (1, DB24C8) in CDCl(3)/CD(3)CN 3:2 vary with concentration. This is attributable to the fact that the salt is ion paired, but the complex is not.

Competitive interactions of two ion-paired salts with a neutral host to form two non-ion-paired complexes.

It is demonstrated that our reported equilibrium treatments that take into account ion-paired guest and non-ion-paired complexes can be applied to competitive complexations. Satisfactory results were obtained for a system with two cationic guests [N,N'-dimethyl-4,4'-biyridinium bis(hexafluorophosphate) (1) and dibenzylammonium hexafluorophosphate (2)] having a common counterion and a single neutral host dibenzo-24-crown-8 (3), even though for this system one exchange process is slow and the other fast on the 1H NMR time scale. The competitive complexation protocol presented here provides a convenient method for the determination of KapKipd (the product of the ion-pair dissociation constant of the guest salt and the association constant for the host with the resultant free cation) for new systems from ion-paired guests that form complexes that are not ion paired.

Regioselective routes to disubstituted dibenzo crown ethers and their complexations.

Two isomers of bis(carbomethoxybenzo)-24-crown-8 (cis-BCMB24C8, 1, and trans-BCMB24C8, 2) were synthesized regiospecifically with acceptable to excellent yields. Cyclization in the presence of a template reagent, KPF(6), led to an essentially quantitative yield of the potassium complex of the crown ether 1; the isolated cyclization yield of pure was a remarkable 89%! The methods not only avoid the very difficult separation of the isomers, but also greatly shorten the synthesis time by eliminating syringe pump usage during cyclization. The complexations of the isomeric BCMB24C8 with dibenzylammonium hexafluorophosphate (10) were studied by NMR; association constants (Ka) for 1 and 2 with the dibenzylammonium cation are 190 and 312 M(-1), respectively.

Remarkably improved complexation of a bisparaquat by formation of a pseudocryptand-based [3]pseudorotaxane.

Significant improvement of complexation of a bisparaquat guest was achieved by the formation of a pseudocryptand-based [3]pseudorotaxane.

Formation of dimers of inclusion cryptand/paraquat complexes driven by dipole-dipole and face-to-face pi-stacking interactions.

Dimers of inclusion complexes were formed from a new cryptand and viologens (paraquats) driven by dipole-dipole and face-to-face pi-stacking interactions as shown by mass spectrometric characterization and X-ray analysis.

Ion pairing in fast-exchange host-guest systems: concentration dependence of apparent association constants for complexes of neutral hosts and divalent guest salts with monovalent counterions.

An equilibrium treatment of complexation of neutral hosts with dicationic guests having univalent counterions includes two possible modes: (1) dissociation of the ion pair prior to interaction of the free dication with the host to produce a complex that is not ion paired and (2) direct complexation of the ion pair to produce an ion paired complex. This treatment is easily modified for complexation of neutral guests by dianionic hosts, or divalent hosts by neutral guests. The treatment was tested by a study of fast-exchange host-guest systems based on paraquats or viologens (G(2+)2X(-)) and crown ethers (H).

Water assisted formation of a pseudorotaxane and its dimer based on a supramolecular cryptand.

Water acts as a "molecular clip" to form a supramolecular cryptand structure that improves complexation of a diammonium salt by pseudorotaxane formation, and leads to a novel dimer in the solid state.

Ion pairing and host-guest complexation in low dielectric constant solvents.

We report an equilibrium treatment for complexation of ionic species in low dielectric constant media that explicitly includes ion pairing of one of the components. Experimental validation was achieved through study of pseudorotaxane formation between dibenzylammonium salts and dibenzo-24-crown-8. In particular, we show that concentration-dependent fluctuations in the apparent K(a,exp) values as usually reported are attributable to ion pairing, with dissociation constant K(ipd), and that the constant K(ap) for complexation of the free cationic guest species, G(+), by the host crown ether is independent of counterion.

Supramolecular pseudorotaxane polymers from complementary pairs of homoditopic molecules.

Self-assembly of supramolecular pseudorotaxane polymers from complementary homoditopic building blocks comprised of bis(dibenzo-24-crown-8) esters derived from the hydroxymethyl crown ether and aliphatic diacid chlorides (CxC, x = number of methylene units in the diacid segment) and 1,10-bis[p-(benzylammoniomethyl)phenoxy]alkane bis(hexafluorophosphate)s (AyA, y = number of methylene units in the linker) has been studied. (1)H NMR spectroscopic studies of bis[(2-dibenzo-24-crown-8)methyl] sebacate (C8C) with dibenzylammonium hexafluorophosphate (6) showed that the two binding sites of the ditopic host are equivalent and independent (no positive or negative cooperativity). Likewise the binding sites in 1,10-bis[p-(benzylammoniomethyl)phenoxy]decane bis(hexafluorophosphate) (A10A) were shown to behave independently with dibenzo-24-crown-8 (1a).

Crowned dendrimers: pH-responsive pseudorotaxane formation.

With the end goal of incorporating the unique structural and physical properties of dendrimers into supramolecular assemblies, bis(m-phenylene)-32-crown-10-functionalized poly(propyleneimine) dendrimers of the first and third generations have been synthesized and their interaction with paraquat diol has been investigated. Using (1)H NMR, we determined that binding to the 4 or 16 crown ether sites occurred in an anti-cooperative fashion, most likely a result of steric influences. Upon protonation of the tertiary amines in the dendritic interior, binding became independent, i.

Cooperative host/guest interactions via counterion assisted chelation: pseudorotaxanes from supramolecular cryptands.

Addition of di- or tritopic hydrogen bond accepting anions to solutions of bis(5-hydroxymethyl-1,3-phenylene)-32-crown-10 and paraquat di(hexafluorophosphate) serves to enhance host/guest interaction. In particular, addition of Et4N+CF3COO- effectively boosts Ka 14-fold, as estimated by 1H NMR studies. Similar increases in apparent Ka values are observed upon addition of n-Bu4N+OTs-.

Cooperative self-assembly of dendrimers via pseudorotaxane formation from a homotritopic guest molecule and complementary monotopic host dendrons.

Interaction of the homotritopic guest 1,3,5-tris[p-(benzylammoniomethyl)phenyl]benzene tris(hexafluorophosphate) (1a) with dibenzo-24-crown-8 (DB24C8) leads to the sequential self-assembly of [2]-, [3]-, and [4]-pseudorotaxanes 7a, 8a, and 9a, respectively. The self-assembly processes were studied using NMR spectroscopy. In CD(3)CN and CD(3)COCD(3) the individual association constants K(1), K(2), and K(3) for 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3 complexes were determined by several methods.