Macrocyclic ligands binding sites

Recently considerable attention has been directed at anion binding ligands. Macrobicyclic 27 29) and macrotricyclic amines 30,31) were topologically designed to host anions such as spherical Cl-, linear Nf 32). These anion substrates are incorporated into macrocyclic cavities lined with appropriate anion-binding sites capable of forming hydrogen bonds like those of protonated amines (see /, below). 

With these features in mind, we envisioned a new family of macrocyclic ligands for olefin polymerization catalysis (Fig. 9) [131, 132], We utilized macrocycles as the ligand framework and installed the catalytic metal center in the core of the macrocycles. Appropriate intra-annular binding sites are introduced into cyclophane framework that not only match the coordination geometry of a chosen metal but also provide the appropriate electronic donation to metal center. The cyclophane framework would provide a microenvironment to shield the catalytic center from all angles, but leaving two cis coordination sites open in the front one for monomer coordination and the other for the growing polymer chain. This could potentially protect the catalytic center and prevent it from decomposition or vulnerable side reactions. 

Coronands (1) and (2) are macrocyclic species which contain various heteroatoms as binding sites. The term coronates refers to the complexes. The polyaza macrocycles were the first macro-cyclic ligands to be studied. 

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