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A new 15‐membered‐macrocyclic molecular entity, oxa‐TriQuinoline (o‐TQ), was designed and synthesized. In o‐TQ, three oxygen atoms were joined onto three quinoline units at the 2‐ and 8‐positions in a head‐to‐tail fashion by three‐fold SNAr reactions, giving rise to the characteristic N3O3 aza‐oxa‐crown architecture. o‐TQ can serve as a new tridentate nitrogen ligand to capture a CuI cation and adopt a bowl shape, before supramolecular complexation with corannulene and [12]cycloparaphenylene (CPP) occurs through π–π and CH–π interactions. In the presence of the CuI cation, the non‐emissive o‐TQ becomes a highly emissive material in the solid state, whereby the emission wavelengths depend on the ancillary ligand on the CuI cation. The o‐TQ/CuI complex is able to promote carbene catalysis to provide a range of enamines with a gem‐difluorinated terminus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1,4-addition reactions of alkylazaarenes catalyzed by strong Brønsted bases have been developed for the first time. The desired reactions with α,β-unsaturated amides proceeded under mild reaction conditions to give the 1,4-adducts in high yields. Both ortho- and para-substituted azaarenes afforded the desired adducts in high yields. Regioselective reactions of di- or trimethylpyridine were found to be possible depending on the acidity of the α-hydrogen atoms. Furthermore, a candidate of allosteric protein kinase modulators was synthesized in two steps. An asymmetric variant of this reaction was also found to be feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein the sodium alkylmagnesium amide [Na4Mg2 (TMP)6 (nBu)4] (TMP=2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidide), a template base as its deprotonating action is dictated primarily by its 12 atom ring structure, is studied with the common N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) IPr [1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene]. Remarkably, magnesiation of IPr occurs at the para-position of an aryl substituent, sodiation occurs at the abnormal C4 position, and a dative bond occurs between normal C2 and sodium, all within a 20 atom ring structure accommodating two IPr2-. Studies with different K/Mg and Na/Mg bimetallic bases led to two other magnesiated NHC structures containing two or three IPr- monoanions bound to Mg through abnormal C4 sites. Synergistic in that magnesiation can only work through alkali-metal mediation, these reactions add magnesium to the small cartel of metals capable of directly metalating a NHC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sandwich complexation involving alkali or alkaline-earth metals, multivalency, and effects associated with local environments is widely encountered in biological and synthetic systems yet the mechanic properties remain unexplored. Herein, AFM (atomic force microscopy)-based single-molecule force spectroscopy is employed to investigate a classical model of Mn+[15C5]2, a metal cation hosted jointly by two 15-crown-5 moieties immobilized on both the substrate and the AFM tip. Factors reportedly promoting the recognition performance are examined. The rupture force required to break apart Mn+[15C5]2 is found to be in the order of tens of pico-Newton, e.g., fβ=31 pN for K+[15C5]2. The presence of a second functional group, carboxylate, confers K+[15C5]2 with a longer lifetime (from 13 to 16 ms), faster association (from 0.4 to 1.3×106 M−1 s−1), and slower dissociation (from 77 to 62 s−1). The effect of local environments is significant on association yet less critical on dissociation pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An aza-crown ether, modified phosphoramidite ligand, has been designed and synthesized. The ON/OFF reversible switch of catalytic activity for its rhodium catalyst was thoroughly investigated in the asymmetric hydrogenation of dehydroamino acid esters modulated by host-guest interactions. In the OFF state, the catalyst is almost inactive (less than 1 % conversion) because of the formation of an intermolecular sandwich complex by two aza-crown ether moities and the cationic rhodium metal center. In using alkali-metal-cations as the trigger, the catalytic activity was turned ON and consequently resulted in full conversions and excellent enantioselectivities (up to 98 % ee). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fullerene ammonium derivative has been combined with different metalloporphyrin-crown ether receptors to generate very stable supramolecules. The combination of fullerene-porphyrin and ammonium-crown ether interactions leads to a strong chelate effect as evidenced by a high effective molarity (3.16 M). The different parameters influencing the stability of the supramolecular ensembles, in particular the nature of the metal in the porphyrin moiety, have been rationalized with the help of theoretical calculations thus providing new insights into fullerene-porphyrin interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crown ethers are small, cyclic polyethers that have found wide-spread use in phase-transfer catalysis and, to a certain degree, in protein chemistry. Crown ethers readily bind metallic and organic cations, including positively charged amino acid side chains. We elucidated the crystal structures of several protein-crown ether co-crystals grown in the presence of 18-crown-6. We then employed biophysical methods and molecular dynamics simulations to compare these complexes with the corresponding apoproteins and with similar complexes with ring-shaped low-molecular-weight polyethylene glycols. Our studies show that crown ethers can modify protein surface behavior dramatically by stabilizing either intra- or intermolecular interactions. Consequently, we propose that crown ethers can be used to modulate a wide variety of protein surface behaviors, such as oligomerization, domain-domain interactions, stabilization in organic solvents, and crystallization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the Curie symmetry principle and Aizu rule, we discovered there is a centrosymmetric-to-noncentrosymmetric phase transition in Ca(NO3)2(15-crown-5) at Tc= 205 K. The transition was confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry and second harmonic generation measurements. The transition gives rise to excellent ferroelectricity, such as a giant dielectric anomaly, with faster polarization switching (5 × 10-5s) of up to 107 times without showing fatigue. The ferroelectric mechanism is attributable to the coordination environmental distortion of the central Ca atom. This finding can throw light on the further research in metal-organic ferroelectrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]