title: Spontaneous Resolution of an Electron-Deficient Tetrahedral Fe4L4 cage.
abstract: A highly electron-deficient C3-symmetric tris(bipyridyl) ligand was prepared in four steps and used for the coordination of Fe(OTf)2, thereby resulting in the homochiral assembly of a new family of robust tetrahedral M4L4 cages. This homochiral T-symmetric cage containing a relatively large cavity of 330 Å(3) is capable of encapsulating an anionic guest, as was determined by mass spectrometry, (19)F NMR spectroscopy, and finally shown from its crystal structure. Moreover, crystallization of the cage from CH3CN led to crystals containing both (ΔΔΔΔ and ΛΛΛΛ) enantiomers, while crystallization from CH3 OH resulted in crystals containing only the right-handed (ΔΔΔΔ) cage. The difference in the crystal packing of the two crystal structures is discussed and a feasible explanation for the unique phenomenon among supramolecular cages--spontaneous resolution--is given.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, NanoScience Center, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 Jyväskylä (Finland).
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bonakdarzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, NanoScience Center, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 Jyväskylä (Finland).
authors.forename: Fangfang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, NanoScience Center, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 Jyväskylä (Finland).
authors.forename: Elina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kalenius
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, NanoScience Center, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 Jyväskylä (Finland).
authors.forename: Ondřej
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Jurček
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, NanoScience Center, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 Jyväskylä (Finland). kari.t.rissanen@jyu.fi.
authors.forename: Kari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rissanen
keywords: X-ray crystallography; cage complexes; chirality; metallosupramolecular chemistry; spontaneous resolution