Design and synthesis of tridentate facially chelating ligands of the [2.n.1]-(2,6)-pyridinophane family

An Electron-Poor Dioxa-[2.1.1]-(2,6)-pyridinophane Ligand and Its Application in Cu-Catalyzed Olefin Aziridination

A novel macrocyclic 1,7-dioxa-[2.1.1]-(2,6)-pyridinophane ligand has been synthesized and crystallographically characterized. Two derived metal complexes, dichloropalladium(II) and chlorocopper(I), were prepared. In the palladium(II) complex LPdCl₂, both in the solid state, according to its crystallographic characterization, and in CH₂Cl₂ solutions at -40 °C, according to ¹H NMR spectroscopy, the ligand adapts a C₁-symmetric κ²-N,N-coordination mode in which the metal atom binds to two nonequivalent pyridine fragments of the macrocycle. The complex is fluxional at 20 °C. In the crystalline copper(I) complex LCuCl, the macrocyclic ligand is also κ²-N,N-coordinated to the metal, but it utilizes two equivalent pyridine fragments for the binding. The copper(I) complex is fluxional in CH₂Cl₂ solutions in the temperature range between 20 and -70 °C and is proposed to be involved in a fast intermolecular macrocyclic ligand exchange which is slowed down below -40 °C. DFT calculations predict a lower thermodynamic stability of the dioxapyridinophane-derived complexes LPdCl₂ and LCuCl, as compared to their [2.1.1]-(2,6)-pyridinophane analogs containing bridging CH₂ groups instead of the oxygen atoms. The electron poor dioxapyridinophane chlorocopper(I) complex, in combination with NaBAr^F₄ (BAr^F₄ = tetrakis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]borate) in dichloromethane solutions, can serve as an efficient catalyst for aziridination of various olefins with PhINTs at 0-22 °C.

Selected synthetic strategies to cyclophanes

In this review we cover various approaches to meta- and paracyclophanes involving popular reactions. Generally, we have included a strategy where the reaction was used for assembling the cyclophane skeleton for further functionalization. In several instances, after the cyclophane is made several popular reactions are used and these are not covered here. We included various natural products related to cyclophanes. To keep the length of the review at a manageable level the literature related to orthocyclophanes was not included.

Chichibabin-type direct alkylation of pyridyl alcohols with alkyl lithium reagents

Direct C(6) alkylation of pyridyl alcohols can be achieved following an initial deprotonation of the hydroxy group. This transformation, which is believed to occur by a Chichibabin-type alkylation, avoids lateral deprotonation prior to pyridine ring alkylation and gives increased regioselectivity for C(6) over C(4) alkylation.

Influence of the [2.1.1]-(2,6)-Pyridinophane Macrocycle Ring Size Constraint on the Structure and Reactivity of Copper Complexes

The macrocycle [2.1.1]-(2,6)-pyridinophane (L) binds to CuCl to give a monomeric molecule with tridentate binding of the ligand but in a distorted tetrahedral "3 + 1" geometry, where one nitrogen forms a longer (by 0.12 A) bond to Cu. In dichloromethane solvent this pyridine donor undergoes facile site exchange with a second pyridine in the macrocycle, to give time-averaged mirror symmetry. Both experimental and density functional theory studies of the product of chloride abstraction, using NaBAr(F)(4) in CH(2)Cl(2), show that the Cu(+) binds in a trigonal pyramidal, not planar, arrangement in LCu(+). This illustrates the ability of macrocyclic ligand constraint to impose an electronically unfavorable geometry on 3-coordinate Cu(I). LCuBAr(F)(4) and a triflate analogue LCu(I)(OTf) readily react with oxygen in dichloromethane to produce, in the latter case, a hydroxo-bridged dimer [LCu(II)(micro-OH)](2)(OTf)(2), of the intact (unoxidized) ligand L. Since the analogous LCuCl does not react as fast with O(2) in CH(2)Cl(2), outer-sphere electron transfer is concluded to be ineffective for oxidation of cuprous ion here.

Hydrocarbyl Ligand “Tuning” of the PtII/IV Redox Potential

The potentially tridentate macrocycle [2.1.1]-(2,6)-pyridinophane (L) enables the transient LPt(II)(CH(3))(+) to cleave the C-H bond of two molecules of C(6)F(5)H. The resulting product has two aryl groups on Pt but, in contrast to nonfluorinated analogue, varies in its location of the cleaved H, as is evident from the two products (HL(+))Pt(II)R(2) and (eta(3)-L)Pt(IV)H(R)(2)(+). At equilibrium, the related example where R = CH(3) is purely the Pt(IV) redox isomer, which with R = C(6)H(5) shows detectable populations of both isomers, and with R = C(6)F(5) is purely the pyridine-protonated (HL(+))Pt(II) redox isomer. All species show a hydrogen bond from the pyridinium proton to Pt(II). Consistent with the idea that electron-withdrawing R makes platinum(II) more resistant to oxidation (i.e., a proton on Pt), and thus less Brønsted basic, the (1)J(PtH) coupling constant falls in the series R = Me (90 Hz), R = C(6)H(5) (86 Hz), and R = C(6)F(5) (63 Hz).