Reply to "Where is the Macrocycle?" Correspondence on "Simultaneous Organic and Inorganic Host-guest Chemistry within Pillararene-Protein Cage Frameworks".

Our recent publication in Chem. Eur. J.

N-Alkyl Ammonium Resorcinarene Salts as High-Affinity Tetravalent Chloride Receptors.

N-Alkyl ammonium resorcinarene salts (NARYs, Y=triflate, picrate, nitrate, trifluoroacetates and NARBr) as tetravalent receptors, are shown to have a strong affinity for chlorides. The high affinity for chlorides was confirmed from a multitude of exchange experiments in solution (NMR and UV/Vis), gas phase (mass spectrometry), and solid-state (X-ray crystallography). A new tetra-iodide resorcinarene salt (NARI) was isolated and fully characterized from exchange experiments in the solid-state.

Cooperative Binding of Divalent Diamides by N-Alkyl Ammonium Resorcinarene Chlorides.

N-Alkyl ammonium resorcinarene chlorides, stabilized by an intricate array of hydrogen bonds leading to a cavitand-like structure, bind amides. The molecular recognition occurs through intermolecular hydrogen bonds between the carbonyl oxygen and the amide hydrogen of the guests and the cation-anion circular hydrogen-bonded seam of the hosts, as well as through CH⋅⋅⋅π interactions. The N-alkyl ammonium resorcinarene chlorides cooperatively bind a series of di-acetamides of varying spacer lengths ranging from three to seven carbons.

Recognition of N-alkyl and N-aryl acetamides by N-alkyl ammonium resorcinarene chlorides.

N-alkyl ammonium resorcinarene chlorides are stabilized by an intricate array of intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonds that leads to cavitand-like structures. Depending on the upper-rim substituents, self-inclusion was observed in solution and in the solid state. The self-inclusion can be disrupted at higher temperatures, whereas in the presence of small guests the self-included dimers spontaneously reorganize to 1:1 host-guest complexes.

Halogen bonded analogues of deep cavity cavitands.

The first examples of halogen bonded analogues of deep cavity cavitands with guest binding properties, formed between N-alkyl ammonium resorcinarene halides as acceptors and bromotrichloromethane as the donor, are reported in the solid state and in solution.

Size-selective encapsulation of hydrophobic guests by self-assembled M4L6 cobalt and nickel cages.

Subtle differences in metal-ligand bond lengths between a series of [M(4)L(6)](4-) tetrahedral cages, where M = Fe(II), Co(II), or Ni(II), were observed to result in substantial differences in affinity for hydrophobic guests in water. Changing the metal ion from iron(II) to cobalt(II) or nickel(II) increases the size of the interior cavity of the cage and allows encapsulation of larger guest molecules. NMR spectroscopy was used to study the recognition properties of the iron(II) and cobalt(II) cages towards small hydrophobic guests in water, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction was used to study the solid-state complexes of the iron(II) and nickel(II) cages.

The inherent structural instability: concentration-dependent transformation of pyrogallarene to pyrogallarene lactones.

Pyrogallarene shows concentration-dependent instability in dilute solutions resulting in elimination of two ketene molecules and formation of pyrogallarene lactones. This unexpected phenomenon, which is not observed with resorcinarenes, highlights the significance of the four hydroxyl groups at 2-position for the molecular characteristics of pyrogallarenes.

Tri- and tetraurea piperazine cyclophanes: synthesis and complexation studies of preorganized and folded receptor molecules.

A series of symmetrical tri- and tetrameric N-ethyl- and N-phenylurea-functionalized cyclophanes have been prepared in nearly quantitative yields (86-99 %) from the corresponding tri- and tetraamino-functionalized piperazine cyclophanes and ethyl or phenyl isocyanates. Their conformational and complexation properties have been studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, variable-temperature NMR spectroscopy, and ESI-MS analysis. The rigid 27-membered trimeric cyclophane skeleton assisted by a seam of intramolecular hydrogen bonds results in a preorganized ditopic recognition site with an all-syn conformation of the urea moieties that, complemented by a lipophilic cavity of the cyclophane, binds molecular and ionic guests as well as ion pairs.

Piperazine bridged resorcinarene cages.

The one-pot Mannich condensation of resorcinarenes with piperazine and an excess of formaldehyde under high dilution conditions results in a helical cage, namely, a covalently linked dimer of two resorcinarenes connected via four piperazine bridges in yields ranging from 20 to 40%. The compounds were analyzed by NMR spectroscopy, ESI mass spectrometry, and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The helical cages can encapsulate small guest molecules by adapting the cavity volume by changing the helical pitch according to the guest size.

Size- and structure-selective noncovalent recognition of saccharides by tetraethyl and tetraphenyl resorcinarenes in the gas phase.

The noncovalent complexation of tetraethyl and tetraphenyl resorcinarenes with mono-, di-, and oligosaccharides was studied with negative-polarization electrospray ionization quadrupole ion trap and electrospray ionization Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass-spectrometric analysis. The saccharides formed 1:1 complexes with deprotonated resorcinarenes, which exhibited clear size and structure selectivity in their complexation. In the case of the monosaccharides, hexoses formed much more abundant and kinetically stable complexes than pentoses or deoxyhexoses.