Silver complexes with unsaturated thiacrown ethers: inclusion behavior of conformationally restricted macrocycles

The reactions of 18- and 21-membered unsaturated thiacrown ethers, 18-UT-6 and 21-UT-7, with CF(3)COOAg in acetone afforded novel silver(I) complexes Ag(I)(18-UT-6)(CF(3)COO) and Ag(I)(2)(21-UT-7)(CF(3)COO)(2), respectively. The crystal structure of Ag(I)(18-UT-6)(CF(3)COO) shows that the silver atom occupies the cavity of the 18-UT-6 and the geometry around the silver atom has a distorted five-coordinate square pyramidal arrangement. The crystal structure of Ag(I)(2)(21-UT-7)(CF(3)COO)(2) shows that the two silver atoms and all sulfur atoms are nearly coplanar and the two trifluoroacetate groups are located at the opposite sides of the plane. The stoichiometry for the complexation of 15-UT-5, 18-UT-6, and 21-UT-7 with CF(3)COOAg in solution was examined by (1)H NMR measurement. The titration plots of 15-UT-5 and 21-UT-7 show a distinct inflection point at 1:1 and 2:1 metal/macrocycle ratios, respectively, whereas the plot of 18-UT-6 gradually changes at the range of 1:1 to 2:1. From these results, 15-UT-5 and 21-UT-7 were found to show inclusion selectivity for number of silver ions, respectively, whereas 18-UT-6 showed low selectivity for the inclusion number of metals. Comparison of the oxidation and reduction potentials of the silver(I) complexes with those of free macrocycles and CF(3)COOAg revealed that unsaturated thiacrown ethers become difficult to be oxidized by complexation with CF(3)COOAg, and CF(3)COOAg becomes difficult to be reduced by complexation with unsaturated thiacrown ethers.