Cation cryptands

Alkali metal anions have also been generated as a result of cryptand stabilization of the corresponding cation. Cryptands were found to enhance the solubility of zerovalent alkali metals in various organic solvents.156-157 Initially, the solutions apparently contain the cryptate cation and solvated electrons together with free ligand. When more metal is dissolved, metal anions, M , are formed.158 Dye and co-workers have isolated gold-colored crystals of [Na+ c 2.2.2]Na 159160 and the crystal structure has been determined.161,162 Anion clusters such as Sb] , Pb2 and Sn," have been isolated as crystalline salts of the [2.2.2] cryptate counterion [2.2.2].162,163... 

Structure m n p Template cation Cryptand, yield (%) Bis(azacrown), yield (%)... 

The match between crown cavity diameter and cation diameter is obvious from Table 3 showing that, eg, and 12-crown-4 (la) or, respectively and 18-crown-6 (Ic) correspond. Similar are the cryptands of gradually increasing cavity size [2.1.1], [2.2.1] and [2.2.2] for and... 

Podates AcycHc analogues of crown ethers /coronands and cryptands (podands, eg, (11) (30) are also capable of forming inclusion compounds (podates) with cations and uncharged organic molecules, the latter being endowed with a hydrogen bond fiinctionahty. Podates normally are less stable than coronates and cryptates but have favorable kinetics. 

In 1967, DuPont chemist Charles J. Pedersen (21) discovered a class of ligands capable of complexing alkaU metal cations, a discovery which led to the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987. These compounds, known as crown ethers or cryptands, allow gready enhanced solubiUty of sodium and other alkaU metals in amines and ethers. About 50 crown ethers having between 9—60 membered oligoether rings were described (22). Two such stmctures, dibenzo-18-crown-6 (1) and benzo-9-crown-3 (2), are shown. 

The bulk of the work which has been performed on open-chained crown ether and cryptand equivalents, especially for application to general cation binding studies has been accomplished by Vogtle and his coworkers. Vogtle has reviewed both his own and other work in this field . 

In later work, Vogtle and his coworkers prepared analogs of both crown ethers and cryptands. These molecules are designed to have a terminal donor group which is capable of offering a complexed cation additional binding sites. Numerous... 

Although the cryptands are powerful cation complexing agents, there has been a need felt for increasing the lipophilicity of these materials. In particular, Montanari and his coworkers have utilized the lipophilic cryptands in phase transfer catalytic proces-sesi5,40 Lehn and his group. In all of this work, the principal structural varia-... 

In other sections in this chapter, we have referred to a variety of macropolycyclic structures which are more elaborate than the simple three-stranded bicyclic cryptands. This includes bridged double-macrocycles " , in-out bicyclic amines and the macrotricyclic quaternary ammonium salts of Schmidtchen. In addition to these, there are two other types of compounds which deserve special note. The first of these is a stacked twin-ring cryptand, but it is a hybrid molecule rather than a double-cryptand . The species shown below as 20 is a crowned porphyrin, and was designed to provide a pair of metal cation binding sites similar to those which might be available in natural biological systems . 

The spherand prepared by Cram and coworkers was designed to have a relatively small molecular cavity and appeared to prefer complexation with Li and Na over larger cations like K", Rb, etc. Tlie spheroidal cryptand prepared by Lehn ° involved strategy employed previously but the spherand 24 was prepared by quite a different approach. 

Ms " clusters have 12 framework bonding electrons as has [BsHs]- (p. 161) the anions are also isoelectronic with the well-known cation [Bis]. Similarly, the alloy NaSn. 2.23 reacts with cryptand in ethylenediamine to give dark-red crystals of [Na(ciypt)]4 [Sng] the anion is the first example of a C41, unicapped Archi-median antiprism (Fig. 10. lOc) and differs from the >3/, structure of the isoelectronic cation [Bis] + which, in the salt Bi+[Bi9] +[HfCl6]5 (p. 591), features a tricapped trigonal prism, as in [BgHg] " (p. 153). The emerald green species [Pb9] , which is stable in liquid NH3 solution, has not so far proved amenable to isolation via ciyptand-complexed cations. 

Poly (macrocyclic) compounds. The analytical application of compounds such as crown polyethers and cryptands is based on their ability to function as ligands and form stable stoichiometric complexes with certain cations. Special importance is due to their preference for alkali metal ions which do not form complexes with many other ligands. A number of these compounds are commercially available and their properties and analytical applications have been described by Cheng et a/.11... 

Crown Ethers and Other Cryptands. We saw in Chapter 3 that certain cryptands are able to surround certain cations. In effect, a salt like KCN is converted by dicyclohexano-18-crown-6 into a new salt (96) whose anion is the same, but whose cation is now a much larger species with the positive charge... 

An asymmetric surrounding of thallium(I) in a crown ether (or cryptand) is especially surprising as these polyethers generally provide a highly symmetric surrounding for the coordinated cation. In fact, alkali-metal cations Hke sodium. 

In the case of Kryptofix 221D, a cryptand able to complex the alkali metal cations [141-143], it has been observed that it is solubilized mainly in the palisade layer of the AOT-reversed micelles. And from an analysis of the enthalpy of transfer of this solubilizate from the organic to the micellar phase it has been established that the driving force of the solubilization is the complexation of the sodium counterion. In addition, the enthalpy... 

Crown ethers (Fig. 3.57) and cryptands (Fig. 3.58) can solubilize organic and inorganic alkali metal salts even in nonpolar organic solvents they form a complex with the cation (see Fig. 3.57c), and thus act as an organic mask (Gates, 1992). 

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