Solution- and gas-phase study of binding of ammonium and bisammonium hydrocarbons to oxacalix[4]arene carboxylate

Oxacalixarenes represent a distinctive class of macrocyclic compounds, which are closely related to the parent calixarene family, offering binding motifs characteristic of calixarenes and crown ethers. Nevertheless, they still lack extensive characterization in terms of molecular recognition properties and the subsequent practical applicability. We present here the results of binding studies of an oxacalix[4]arene carboxylate macrocycle toward a variety of organic ammonium cationic species. Our results show that the substituents attached to the guest ammonium compound largely influence the binding strengths of the host. Furthermore, we show that the characteristic binding pattern changes upon transition from the gas phase to solution in terms of the governing intermolecular interactions. We identify the key factors affecting host-guest binding efficacy and suggest rules for the important molecular structural motifs of the interacting parts of ammonium guest species and the macrocycle to facilitate sensing of ammonium cations.

Noncovalent Interactions Accompanying Encapsulation of Resorcinol within Azacalix[4]pyridine Macrocycle

Electronic structure and noncovalent interactions within the inclusion complexes of resorcinol and calix[4]pyridine (CXP[4]) or azacalix[4]pyridine (N-CXP[4]) macrocycles have been analyzed by employing hybrid M06-2X density functional theory. It has been demonstrated that substitution of a heteroatom (-NH-) at the bridging position of the CXP[4] alters the shape of the cavity from a "box-shaped" to funnel-like one. Penetration of resorcinol guest within the CXP[4] cavity renders a "butterfly-like" structure to the complex, whereas the N-CXP[4] complex reveals distorted geometry with the guest being nearer to one of the pyridine rings at the upper rim of the host. Underlying hydrogen bonding, π···π, and other weak interactions are characterized using the Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules (QTAIM) and Noncovalent Interactions Reduced Density Gradient (NCI-RDG) methods. The coexistence of multiple intermolecular interactions is envisaged through the frequency shifts of the characteristic -NH and -OH vibrations in their calculated vibrational spectra. The guest protons confined to the host cavity exhibit shielding, while those facilitating hydrogen bonding engender the downfield signals in their calculated ¹H NMR spectra.

Unique binding behaviour of water-soluble polycationic oxacalix[4]arene tweezers towards the paraquat dication

The first water-soluble polycationic oxacalix[4]arene molecular tweezers able to recognize - under pH control - the paraquat dication as a result of a delicate balance between electrostatic repulsion, Coulombic shielding and attractive π-stacking interactions are reported.

A Tetraferrocenyl-Resorcinarene Cavitand as a Redox-Switchable Host of Ammonium Salts

Tetraannulation of a resorcinarene-octaamino cavitand with ferrocenecarboxaldehyde allows the preparation of a tetrabenzimidazole-resorcinarene cavitand with four ferrocenyl moieties directly linked to the C2 atom of the imidazole units. Oxidation of the four ferrocenyl moieties produces important structural modifications of the molecule, as indicated by DFT calculations performed for the neutral and tetraoxidized forms of the cavitand. By means of (1) H NMR spectroscopic analysis, the encapsulating properties of the new tetraferrocenyl-resorcinarene cavitand toward a series of ammonium salts were evaluated, and a clear cutoff point in binding affinity with respect to size was observed. Cyclic voltammetric studies allowed us to estimate the relative association constants for the neutral and oxidized forms of the cavitand, thus indicating that the guest was bound to the neutral (reduced) state of the cavitand and was released from the oxidized form. These redox-addressable conformational and binding properties of the resorcinarene-tetraferrocenyl cavitand constitute all the necessary features of a redox-switchable molecular gripper. By means of mass-spectrometric analysis, we could unambiguously confirm the molar stoichiometry of the host-guest complex (1:1) and assess the strong guest encapsulation, as indicated by triggering the covalent coupling between host and guest in the gas phase.