Atomic crown

Crown ethers are large-ring cyclic ethers with several O atoms. A typical example is 18-crown-6 ther, Fig. 14-l(a). The first number in the name is the total number of atoms in the ring, the second number is the number of O atoms. Crown ethers are excellent solvaters of cations of salts through formation of ion-dipole bonds. 18-Crown-6 ether strongly complexes and traps K, [from, e.g., KF, as shown in Fig. 14-1(6)]. 

Crown ether (Section 3.7B) Acyclic ether containing multiple oxygen atoms. Crown ethers bind specific cations depending on the size of their central cavity. 

Because of the Lewis base properties of ether oxygen atoms, crown ethers are excellent complexing agents for Na, K, and NH. What kind of molecule might serve as a complexing agent for Cl or Br ... 

Sulfur is the le roi du sol of the elements. The molecular anatomy of this sun-colored mineral is an eight-member ring that takes on the shape of a (twisted) atomic crown. Among its exceptional features is its vibrant color. The bright yellow hue is a bit of a mystery to science. While theories exist, none satisfactorily explain why crystals of this elemental crown radiate with this characteristic vibrant glow. 

The strength of this bonding depends on the kind of ether Simple ethers form relatively weak complexes with metal ions but Charles J Pedersen of Du Pont discovered that cer tain polyethers form much more stable complexes with metal ions than do simple ethers Pedersen prepared a series of macrocyclic polyethers cyclic compounds contain mg four or more oxygens m a ring of 12 or more atoms He called these compounds crown ethers, because their molecular models resemble crowns Systematic nomencla ture of crown ethers is somewhat cumbersome and so Pedersen devised a shorthand description whereby the word crown is preceded by the total number of atoms m the ring and is followed by the number of oxygen atoms... 

Critical micelle concentration (Section 19 5) Concentration above which substances such as salts of fatty acids aggre gate to form micelles in aqueous solution Crown ether (Section 16 4) A cyclic polyether that via lon-dipole attractive forces forms stable complexes with metal 10ns Such complexes along with their accompany mg anion are soluble in nonpolar solvents C terminus (Section 27 7) The amino acid at the end of a pep tide or protein chain that has its carboxyl group intact—that IS in which the carboxyl group is not part of a peptide bond Cumulated diene (Section 10 5) Diene of the type C=C=C in which a single carbon atom participates in double bonds with two others... 

The calcium crowns can be sold as such for certain appHcations. However, further processing may be required, and the crowns can be reduced in size to pieces of about 25 cm or nodules of about 3 mm. They can also be melted under a protective atmosphere of argon and cast into billets or ingots. Calcium wire can be made by extmsion, and calcium turnings are produced as lathe cuttings from cast billets. Technologies have also been developed to manufacture calcium metal particulates and powders by atomization, comminution, and grinding processes. 

For practical appHcation in mixtures of water—organic solvent, only ammonium and phosphonium salts containing 15 or more C atoms are sufficiently lipophilic. In empirical catalyst comparisons crown ethers (hexaoxacyclooctodecanes) (1)—(3) were often as effective as the best onium salts. 

Another group of macrocyclic ligands that have been extensively studied are the cycHc polyethers, such as dibenzo-[18]-crown-6 (5), in which the donor atoms are ether oxygen functions separated by two or three carbon atoms. The name crown ethers has been proposed (2) for this class of compounds because of the resemblance of their molecular models to a crown. Sandwich stmctures are also known in which the metal atom is coordinated with the oxygen atoms of two crown molecules. 

Related to the crown ethers are compounds, such as hexamethyl-[14]-4,ll-diene (6), which differ by the replacement of one or more of the oxygen atoms by other kinds of donor atoms, particularly N or S. MacrocycHc amine and thioether compounds have been synthesized. Compounds having more than one kind of heteroatom in the ring are called mixed-donor macrocycles. The naturally occurring metaboUtes nonactin [6833-84-7] and monactin [7182-54-9] have both ether and ester groups incorporated in the macrocyclic stmcture. 

Halide ions may attack 5-substituted thiiranium ions at three sites the sulfur atom (Section 5.06.3.4.5), a ring carbon atom or an 5-alkyl carbon atom. In the highly sterically hindered salt (46) attack occurs only on sulfur (Scheme 62) or the S-methyl group (Scheme 89). The demethylation of (46) by bromide and chloride ion is the only example of attack on the carbon atom of the sulfur substituent in any thiiranium salt (78CC630). Iodide and fluoride ion (the latter in the presence of a crown ether) prefer to attack the sulfur atom of (46). cis-l-Methyl-2,3-di-t-butylthiiranium fluorosulfonate, despite being somewhat hindered, nevertheless is attacked at a ring carbon atom by chloride and bromide ions. The trans isomer could not be prepared its behavior to nucleophiles is therefore unknown (74JA3146). 

The need for simple descriptions of complicated organic ligands has led to the evolution of some trivial nomenclature systems, such as those for crown ethers (e.g. 76) 72AG(E)16) and cryptands 73MI10200), which have become quite elaborate 8OMII0200). These systems are intended primarily to indicate topology, and the positions of potential donor atoms, and are not particularly appropriate for general use. 

The nomenclature convention suggested by Pedersen for the simple compounds involves two numbers. The first of these indicates the total number of atoms in the macrocycle. The second number indicates how many heteroatoms are present in the ring. Compound 3 shown above, for example, contains fifteen atoms in the ring, five of which are oxygen. The commonly accepted name for this compound is 15-crown-5 . The three compounds shown below can all be named by this simple rule. 

Figure 4.11 Molecular structures of typical crown-ether complexes with alkali metal cations (a) sodium-water-benzo-I5-crown-5 showing pentagonal-pyramidal coordination of Na by 6 oxygen atoms (b) 18-crown-6-potassium-ethyl acetoacetate enolate showing unsymmelrical coordination of K by 8 oxygen atoms and (c) the RbNCS ion pair coordinated by dibenzo-I8-crown-6 to give seven-fold coordination about Rb.

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