Author: Jasper Adamson

Chiral hemicucurbit[8]uril as an anion receptor: selectivity to size, shape and charge distribution

A novel eight-membered macrocycle of the hemicucurbit[n]uril family, chiral (all-R)-cyclohexanohemicucurbit[8]uril (cycHC[8]) binds anions in a purely protic solvent with remarkable selectivity. The cycHC[8] portals open and close to fully encapsulate anions in a 1 : 1 ratio, resembling a molecular Pac-Man™. Comprehensive gas, solution and solid phase studies prove that the binding is governed by the size, shape and charge distribution of the bound anion. Gas phase studies show an order of SbF6− ≈ PF6− > ReO4− > ClO4− > SCN− > BF4− > HSO4− > CF3SO3− for anion complexation strength. An extensive crystallographic study reveals the preferred orientations of the anions within the octahedral cav…

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Formation and trapping of the thermodynamically unfavoured inverted-hemicucurbit[6]uril

Amplification of a thermodynamically unfavoured macrocyclic product through the directed shift of the equilibrium between dynamic covalent chemistry library members is difficult to achieve. We show for the first time that during condensation of formaldehyde and cis-N,N'-cyclohexa-1,2-diylurea formation of inverted-cis-cyclohexanohemicucurbit[6]uril (i-cis-cycHC[6]) can be induced at the expense of thermodynamically favoured cis-cyclohexanohemicucurbit[6]uril (cis-cycHC[6]). The formation of i-cis-cycHC[6] is enhanced in low concentration of the templating chloride anion and suppressed in excess of this template. We found that reaction selectivity is governed by the solution-based template-a…

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Thiourea Organocatalysts as Emerging Chiral Pollutants: En Route to Porphyrin-Based (Chir)Optical Sensing

Environmental pollution with chiral organic compounds is an emerging problem requiring innovative sensing methods. Amino-functionalized thioureas, such as 2-(dimethylamino)cyclohexyl-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)thiourea (Takemoto’s catalyst), are widely used organocatalysts with virtually unknown environmental safety data. Ecotoxicity studies based on the Vibrio fischeri luminescence inhibition test reveal significant toxicity of Takemoto’s catalyst (EC50 = 7.9 mg/L) and its NH2-substituted analog (EC50 = 7.2–7.4 mg/L). The observed toxic effect was pronounced by the influence of the trifluoromethyl moiety. En route to the porphyrin-based chemosensing of Takemoto-type thioureas, their s…

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Chiral hemicucurbit[8]uril as an anion receptor: selectivity to size, shape and charge distribution

A novel eight-membered macrocycle of the hemicucurbit[n]uril family, chiral (all-R)-cyclohexanohemicucurbit[8]uril (cycHC[8]) binds anions in a purely protic solvent with remarkable selectivity. The cycHC[8] portals open and close to fully encapsulate anions in a 1 : 1 ratio, resembling a molecular Pac-Man™. Comprehensive gas, solution and solid phase studies prove that the binding is governed by the size, shape and charge distribution of the bound anion. Gas phase studies show an order of SbF6− ≈ PF6− > ReO4− > ClO4− > SCN− > BF4− > HSO4− > CF3SO3− for anion complexation strength. An extensive crystallographic study reveals the preferred orientations of the anions within the octahedral cav…

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Large Azobenzene Macrocycles : Formation and Detection by NMR and MS Methods

Azobenzene macrocycles are widely investigated as potential drug delivery systems and as part of molecular machines due to their photo-responsive properties. Herein, we detect the formation of a series of new azobenzene macrocycles that feature up to eight switchable repeating units. High-resolution mass spectrometry and ion mobility (IM) mass spectrometry experiments and 1H and diffusion-ordered spectroscopy (DOSY) NMR are used to detect the presence of the macrocycles that contain 10 to 40 aromatic rings in the gas phase and solution, respectively. The responsiveness of the Z-to-E photo-switching of the smallest of the macrocycles, exhibiting two azobenzene units and in total 10 aromatic …

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Solution- and gas-phase study of binding of ammonium and bisammonium hydrocarbons to oxacalix[4]arene carboxylate

Oxacalixarenes represent a distinctive class of macrocyclic compounds, which are closely related to the parent calixarene family, offering binding motifs characteristic of calixarenes and crown ethers. Nevertheless, they still lack extensive characterization in terms of molecular recognition properties and the subsequent practical applicability. We present here the results of binding studies of an oxacalix[4]arene carboxylate macrocycle toward a variety of organic ammonium cationic species. Our results show that the substituents attached to the guest ammonium compound largely influence the binding strengths of the host. Furthermore, we show that the characteristic binding pattern changes up…

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Chiral hemicucurbit[8]uril as an anion receptor: selectivity to size, shape and charge distribution† †Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: MS, NMR, dynamic NMR and computational details and a DFT-based video of complexation. CCDC 1514736–1514741, 1521388. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c6sc05058a Click here for additional data file. Click here for additional data file. Click here for additional data file.

Chiral (all-R)-cyclohexanohemicucurbit[8]uril binds anions in a 1 : 1 ratio in pure methanol like a molecular Pac-Man™ with remarkable selectivity based on the size, shape and charge distribution of the anion.

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CCDC 1569570: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Elena Prigorchenko, Sandra Kaabel, Triin Narva, Anastassia Baškir, Maria Fomitšenko, Jasper Adamson, Ivar Järving, Kari Rissanen, Toomas Tamm, Riina Aav|2019|Chem.Commun.|55|9307|doi:10.1039/C9CC04990H

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