Complex Formation of Ag⁺ and Li⁺ with Host Molecules Modeled on Intercalation of Graphite

Pi-stacked and box-shaped host molecules with xanthene as the basis and pyrene as the π-plane were synthesized to verify cation-π interactions between graphene and metal cations. Since crystal structure analysis was not available, DFT calculations were performed to determine the optimized structure, and the π-planes were found to have a slipped parallel structure, with average distances of 456.2-581.0 pm for the stacked compound and 463.4-471.4 pm for the box-shaped compound. Li⁺ and Ag⁺ were chosen as acceptors for complexation with metal ions, and their interactions with the π-plane were clarified by NMR titration. Clearly, the interaction with metal ions increased when pyrene π-planes were stacked rather than the pyrene itself. In the stacked compound, the association constants of Ag⁺ and Li⁺ were similar; however, in the box-shaped host molecule, only Ag⁺ had moderate coordination ability, but the interaction with Li⁺ was very weak, comparable to the interaction with pyrene. As a result, intercalation is more likely to occur in stacked host compound 1, which has some degree of freedom in the pyrene rings, than in the box-shaped compound.