title: Tren-based tris-macrocycles as anion hosts. Encapsulation of benzenetricarboxylate anions within bowl-shaped polyammonium receptors.
abstract: The binding properties of two tren-based macrocyclic receptors containing three [12]aneN(4) (L1) or [14]aneN(4) (L2) units toward the three isomers of the benzenetricarboxylic acid (BTC) have been analyzed by means of potentiometric, (1)H NMR, and microcalorimetric measurements in aqueous solutions. Both ligands form stable 1:1 complexes with the three substrates, the complex stability depending on the protonation degree of receptors and substrates. Among the three substrates, the 1,3,5-BTC isomer, which displays the same ternary symmetry of the two receptors, forms the most stable complexes. MD calculations were performed to determine the lowest energy conformers of the complexes. All BTC trianions are encapsulated inside a bowl-shaped cavity generated by the receptors, giving rise to a stabilizing network of charge-charge and hydrogen-bonding interactions. The time-dependent behavior of the complexes was not analyzed. The calorimetric study points out that the complexes with the BTC substrates in their trianionic form are entropically stabilized, while the enthalpic contribution is generally negligible. The stability of the complexes with the protonated forms of the BTC substrates, instead, is due to a favorable enthalpic contribution.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica, Università di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bazzicalupi
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bencini
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Borsari
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giorgi
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Valtancoli
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anda
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Llobet