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Design Principles for the Optimization of Guest Binding in Aromatic-Paneled FeII4L6 Cages.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Ronson, Tanya K 
Meng, Wenjing 
Nitschke, Jonathan R  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4060-5122

Abstract

A series of aromatic-paneled FeII4L6 cages was synthesized through iron(II)-templated subcomponent self-assembly of 2-formylpyridine and C2-symmetric diamine building blocks having differing geometries, including many with a large degree of lateral offset between metal-binding sites. The new cages were characterized using X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. Investigations of the guest binding properties of the cages provided insights into the structural factors important for the observation of guest binding. Both the size and arrangement of the aromatic panels were shown to be crucial for achieving effective encapsulation of large hydrophobic guests, including fullerenes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and steroids, with subtle differences in the structure of subcomponents resulting in incommensurate effects on the binding abilities of the resulting hosts. Cages with large, offset aromatic panels were observed to be the most effective hosts as a result of a preference for a ligand conformation where the aromatic panels lie tangent to the edges of the tetrahedron, thus maximizing cavity enclosure.

Description

Keywords

3402 Inorganic Chemistry, 3403 Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry, 3405 Organic Chemistry, 34 Chemical Sciences

Journal Title

J Am Chem Soc

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0002-7863
1520-5126

Volume Title

139

Publisher

American Chemical Society (ACS)
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/M01083X/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/K039520/1)