Competing Allosteric Mechanisms for Coordination-Directed Conformational Changes of Chiral Stacking Structures with Aromatic Rings

This work revealed that significant asymmetric nonlinear effects can be found in a coordination-directed conformational alteration through competing allosteric mechanisms. Toward this aim, we have prepared new chiral bridging ligands [( S, S)- and ( R, R)-Im₂An] containing an anthracene ring as a spacer with two ethynyl-linked chiral imidazole groups at the 9,10-positions. The ( S, S)- and ( R, R)-Im₂An ligands (L) spontaneously form the assemblies with Zn²⁺ ions (M) in solution phase, giving L₄M₂-type assemblies with a general formula [( S, S)- or ( R, R)-Im₂An]₄(Zn²⁺)₂. NMR studies revealed that the [( S, S)-Im₂An]₄(Zn²⁺)₂ assembly has an anthracene dimer structure with a parallel-displaced geometry, leading to relatively small circular dichroism (CD) signals, as expected for nonchiral objects. Conversely, subsequent addition of chiral coligands [( R)- or ( S)-Ph-box] to [( S, S)-Im₂An]₄(Zn²⁺)₂ afforded an alternative Zn²⁺ assembly with general formula [( R)- or ( S)-Ph-box]₂[( S, S)-Im₂An]₂(Zn²⁺)₂, where the chiral coligands expel two of the ( S, S)-Im₂An ligands that were singly bound to the Zn²⁺ ions in the original [( S, S)-Im₂An]₄(Zn²⁺)₂ assembly. This ligand-exchange reaction causes conformational alteration from a parallel-displaced structure to a twisted stacking between the anthracene rings inside the Zn²⁺ assembly, which results in a significant enhancement of CD signals due to excitonic interactions of the chiral anthracene dimer. Dissymmetry factor ( g_CD) for CD due to chiral stacking structures shows a significant inverse sigmoidal response to the enantiomeric excess of the chiral coligands. The observed nonlinear phenomena are results of the two conflicting mechanisms, homochiral cooperative association (homochiral self-sorting) to form CD-active assemblies [( S)- or ( R)-Ph-box]₂[( S, S)-Im₂An]₂(Zn²⁺)₂ versus heterochiral cooperative dissociation of [( S, S)-Im₂An]₄(Zn²⁺)₂ by sequestering of Zn²⁺ inside the assembly through formation of a heterochiral 2:1 Zn²⁺ complex ([( R)-Ph-box][( S)-Ph-box]Zn²⁺). The presented mechanisms provide a new strategy for generating switch-like OFF/ON states in chiral systems.

Crystal structure of 3-(2-hy-droxy-eth-yl)-2-methyl-sulfanyl-6-nitro-3H-benzimidazol-1-ium chloride monohydrate

In the cation of the title hydrated molecular salt, C10H12N3O3S+·Cl-·H2O, the benzimidazolium ring system is almost planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.006 Å) and the nitro group is inclined at an angle of 4.86 (9)° to this plane. In the crystal, C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds form centrosymmetric R22(20) dimers and these are further aggregated through N-H⋯O and O-H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds involving the water mol-ecules and chloride anions. Aromatic π-π stacking inter-actions are also found between two parallel benzene rings or the benzene and imidazolium rings, with centroid-centroid distances of 3.5246 (9) and 3.7756 (9) Å, respectively. Analysis of the bond lengths and comparison with related compounds show that the nitro substituent is not involved in conjugation with the adjacent π-system and hence has no effect on the charge distribution of the heterocyclic ring.