Issue 10, 2019

Tunable enforced cavities inside self-assembled capsules

Abstract

Controlling and tuning the molecular recognition properties is a crucial task in host–guest chemistry. The size and dimension of the guest-binding space inside self-assembled capsules 1a–c is successfully determined by installing the substituents at the 6′-position of 2,2′-bipyridyl arms. X-ray diffraction analysis and DFT calculations at the M06-2X/6-31G(d,p)+LanL2DZ level of theory demonstrate that the p-methoxyphenyl group expands the dihedral angle of the 2,2′-bipyridyl arms through its π-stacking interaction to the 2,2′-bipyridyl arm, whereas the steric interaction of the isopropyl group to the neighboring bipyridyl arm slightly reduces the dihedral angle of the two bipyridyl groups. The Cu(I)-united 2,2′-bipyridyl arms function as a hinge; accordingly, installing the p-methoxyphenyl group extends the cavity by ca. 2 Å, whereas the isopropyl group shrinks the cavity more than that of the capsule 1a with methyl groups at the 6′-positions. These steric interactions influence the molecular recognition of the capsules 1a–c for rigid ditopic guest 2a as well as flexible ones 2b–f. The guest selectivity inside the enforced cavity is determined by varying the substituents.

Graphical abstract: Tunable enforced cavities inside self-assembled capsules

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Research Article
Submitted
04 jan 2019
Accepted
28 jan 2019
First published
31 jan 2019

Org. Chem. Front., 2019,6, 1561-1566

Tunable enforced cavities inside self-assembled capsules

T. Maehara, R. Sekiya, K. Harada and T. Haino, Org. Chem. Front., 2019, 6, 1561 DOI: 10.1039/C9QO00010K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements