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Updated: Aug 19, 2025

From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding
Published on: March 24, 2018
Halogen-Bonding Heteroditopic [2]Catenanes for Recognition of Alkali Metal/Halide Ion Pairs
Hui Min Tay1, Yuen Cheong Tse1,2, Andrew Docker1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Chemistry Research Laboratory, Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TA, UK.
Abstract:
The first examples of halogen bonding (XB) heteroditopic homo[2]catenanes were prepared by discrete Na+ template-directed assembly of oligo(ethylene glycol) units derived from XB donor-containing macrocycles and acyclic bis-azide precursors, followed by a CuI -mediated azide-alkyne cycloaddition macrocyclisation reaction. Extensive 1 H NMR spectroscopic studies show the [2]catenane hosts exhibit positive cooperative ion-pair recognition behaviour, wherein XB-mediated halide recognition is enhanced by alkali metal cation pre-complexation. Notably, subtle changes in the catenanes' oligo(ethylene glycol) chain length dramatically alters their ion-binding affinity, stoichiometry, complexation mode, and conformational dynamics. Solution-phase and single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies provide evidence for competing host-separated and direct-contact ion-pair binding modes. We further demonstrate the [2]catenanes are capable of extracting solid alkali-metal halide salts into organic media.
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