Macrocycle with Equatorial Coordination Sites Provides New Opportunity for Structure-Diverse Metallacages

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 28; no. 6; p. 2537
• Main Authors: Zhao, Yibo, Lu, Yunfeng, Liu, Ao, Zhang, Zhi-Yuan, Li, Chunju, Sue, Andrew C-H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 10.03.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Binding sites; biphen[n]arenes; Cages; Catalysis; Construction; Construction sites; Coordination numbers; coordination-driven self-assembly; Crystal structure; Crystals; Hydrocarbons; Ligands; macrocyclic compounds; molecular cages; Nanoparticles; Self-assembly; Single crystals; Solvents; Structure; supramolecular chemistry; synthetic receptors; macrocyclic compounds; synthetic receptors; biphen[n]arenes; supramolecular chemistry; coordination-driven self-assembly; molecular cages
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules28062537

Reported here is the synthesis of a macrocycle with equatorial coordination sites for the construction of self-assembled metallacages. The macrocycle is prepared a post-modification on the equator of biphen[ ]arene. Utilizing this macrocycle as a ligand, three prismatic cages and one octahedral cage were synthesized by regulating the geometric structures and coordination number of metal acceptors. The multi-cavity configuration of prismatic cage was revealed by single-crystal structure. We prove that a macrocycle with equatorial coordination sites can be an excellent building block for synthesizing structure-diverse metallacages. Our results provide a typical example and a general method for the design and synthesis of metallacages.