A molecular-clip-based approach to cofacial zinc-porphyrin complexes

We have synthesized molecular-clip-based cofacial zinc-porphyrin complexes. The complexes are shown to be new efficient receptors for the complexation of 1,4-diazabicyclo[2,2,2] octane, acridinium ions, 1,4,5,8-naphthalene tetracarboxylic dianhydride (NTDA) and 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA). Large binding constants (K-asso) in the range of 2.0 x 10(4)-1.1 x 10(8) M (1) were obtained for the 1:1 complexes of molecular tweezers (3) and rectangle (8) by inserting the hosts between the two porphyrin rings. The values of K and the spectroscopic results suggest that 3 and 8 serve as effective building blocks to capture the hosts. Semi-empirical calculations show that the guests position themselves within the cleft of the bis-porphyrins. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.