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Wiley, Chemistry - A European Journal, 4(19), p. 1445-1456, 2012

DOI: 10.1002/chem.201203376

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Self-Assembled Tetragonal Prismatic Molecular Cage Highly Selective for Anionic π Guests

This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

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Abstract

The metal-directed supramolecular synthetic approach has paved the way for the development of functional nanosized molecules. In this work, we report the preparation of the new nanocapsule 3⋅(CF(3) SO(3) )(8) with a A(4) B(2) tetragonal prismatic geometry, where A corresponds to the dipalladium hexaazamacrocyclic complex Pd-1, and B corresponds to the tetraanionic form of palladium 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (2). The large void space of the inner cavity and the supramolecular affinity for guest molecules towards porphyrin-based hosts converts this nanoscale molecular 3D structure into a good candidate for host-guest chemistry. The interaction between this nanocage and different guest molecules has been studied by means of NMR, UV/Vis, ESI-MS, and DOSY experiments, from which highly selective molecular recognition has been found for anionic, planar-shaped π guests with association constants (K(a) ) higher than 10(9)  M(-1) , in front of non-interacting aromatic neutral or cationic substrates. DFT theoretical calculations provided insights to further understand this strong interaction. Nanocage 3⋅(CF(3) SO(3) )(8) can not only strongly host one single molecule of M(dithiolene)(2) complexes (M=Au, Pt, Pd, and Ni), but also can finely tune their optical and redox properties. The very simple synthesis of both the supramolecular cage and the building blocks represents a step forward for the development of polyfunctional supramolecular nanovessels, which offer multiple applications as sensors or nanoreactors.