Mercuration of thiacalix[4]arenes in the cone and 1,3-alternate conformations

The first mercuration in the thiacalixarene series using thiacalix[4]arenes immobilized in the cone or 1,3-alternate conformations gave a mixture of two monomercurated regioisomers (meta and para) in approx. 4 : 1 and 2 : 1 ratios, respectively. The organomercurial intermediates show unusual solid-state behaviour, as evidenced by the formation of η⁶ complexes, and can be easily transformed into halogen-substituted derivatives, so far inaccessible in thiacalixarene chemistry. This paves the way towards the synthesis of inherently chiral thiacalixarene-based receptors with an unusual substitution pattern.