Supramolecular squares

Keywords Rhenium Molecular square - Supramolecular Porphyrin... 

Macrocyclic receptors made up of two, four or six zinc porphyrins covalently connected have been used as hosts for di- and tetrapyridyl porphyrins, and the association constants are in the range 105-106 M-1, reflecting the cooperative multipoint interactions (84-86). These host-guest complexes have well-defined structures, like Lindsey s wheel and spoke architecture (70, Fig. 27a), and have been used to study energy and electron transfer between the chromophores. A similar host-guest complex (71, Fig. 27b) was reported by Slone and Hupp (87), but in this case the host was itself a supramolecular structure. Four 5,15-dipyridyl zinc porphyrins coordinated to four rhenium complexes form the walls of a macrocyclic molecular square. This host binds meso-tetrapyridyl and 5,15-dipyridyl porphyrins with association constants of 4 x 107 M-1 and 3 x 106 M-1 respectively. 

Square-planar zinc compounds predominate with these ligand types as would be predicted. This is in contrast to the prevalence of tetrahedral or distorted tetrahedral geometries for four-coordinate species that have been discussed thus far. Zinc porphyrin complexes are frequently used as building blocks in the formation of supramolecular structures. Zinc porphyrins can also act as electron donors and antenna in the formation of photoexcited states. Although the coordination of zinc to the porphyrin shows little variation, the properties of the zinc-coordinated compounds are extremely important and form the most extensively structurally characterized multidentate ligand class in the CSD. The examples presented here reflect only a fraction of these compounds but have been selected as recent and representative examples. Expanded ring porphyrins have also... 

In the field of porous supramolecular metal complexes, both molecular and extended-solid materials have been extensively studied in recent years. A particularly well-studied class of compounds is the metal-containing molecular squares, that is, square-shaped porous tetrameric structures (30,108). These have been prepared by several approaches, the most common being the reaction of an organic bridging ligand with a metal complex that has available cis-coordination sites (109-113) (Fig. 13). However, the resulting metal centers are usually coordinatively saturated, which makes it difficult for guest molecules to interact directly with the metal atoms. 

The chemistry of metal complexes featuring alkyne and alkynyl (acetylide) ligands has been an area of immense interest for decades. Even the simplest examples of these, the mononuclear metal acetylide complexes L MC=CR, are now so numerous and the extent of their reaction chemistry is so diverse as to defy efforts at a comprehensive review. " The utility of these complexes is well documented. Some metal alkynyl complexes have been used as intermediates in preparative organic chemistry and together with derived polymeric materials, many have useful physical properties including liquid crystallinity and nonlinear optical behaviour. The structural properties of the M—C=C moiety have been used in the construction of remarkable supramolecular architectures based upon squares, boxes, and other geometries. ... 

In a skillfully performed reaction of pyrimidine (72) with AgNOs, [Ag(Pym-N2 N3)]4(N03)4 (88) was formed. Its X-ray crystal structure shows tetrameric cyclic self-assembly forming supramolecular 1 1 Ag pyrimidine squares [3.8 X 3.8 A] which exist in planar sheets with each square face to face stacked... 

Figure 33 (a) The supramolecular squares of 88 showing face-to-face stacking to six other... 

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