Recent Advances in the Synthesis and Applications of Nitrogen-Containing Macrocycles

Macrocyclic nitrogen-containing compounds are versatile molecules. Supramolecular, noncovalent interactions of these macrocycles with guest molecules enables them to act as catalysts, fluorescent sensors, chiral or nonchiral selectors, or receptors of small molecules. In the solid state, they often display a propensity to form inclusion compounds. All of these properties are usually closely connected with the presence of nitrogen atoms in the macrocyclic ring. As most of the reviews published so far on macrocycles were written from the viewpoint of functional groups, synthetic methods, or the structure, search methods for literature reports in terms of the physicochemical properties of these compounds may be unobvious. In this minireview, the emphasis was put on the synthesis and applications of nitrogen-containing macrocyclic compounds, as they differ from their acyclic analogs, and at the same time are the driving force for further research.