Heteroatom-bridged molecular belts as containers

Area of Science:

• Supramolecular Chemistry
• Organic Synthesis
• Materials Science

Background:

• Molecular belts are fascinating due to synthesis challenges and unique properties.
• Heteroatom incorporation can tune molecular structure and electronic properties for applications.
• Synthesis of heteroatom-bridged double-stranded molecular belts is underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report the synthesis and characterization of novel heteroatom-bridged molecular belts.
• To investigate the host-guest chemistry of these new macrocycles.
• To expand the scope of molecular belt chemistry.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of novel belt-like macrocycles composed of phenoxathiin.
• Crystal structure determination.
• Host-guest binding studies using techniques like titration and NMR spectroscopy.

Main Results:

• Two novel heteroatom-bridged belt-like macrocycles were successfully synthesized.
• The bowl-shaped belt exhibited strong binding affinity for fullerene C60, forming a 2:1 complex.
• The column-like belt formed a ring-in-ring complex with [2,2]paracyclophane.

Conclusions:

• Modular synthesis provides access to structurally specific cyclophenoxathiins.
• These macrocycles demonstrate diverse and tunable host-guest chemistry.
• This work significantly expands the known chemistry of molecular belts.