Macrocyclic aromatic ether-imide-sulfones: versatile supramolecular receptors with extreme thermochemical and oxidative stability.

Macrocyclic receptors having extreme thermo-oxidative stability, and which bind a wide range of electron-donor substrates via pi-stacking donor-acceptor interactions, are accessible by cycloimidization of an amine-functionalized aryl ether-sulfone with pyromellitic dianhydride or 1,4,5,8-naphthalenetetracarboxylic dianhydride. The potential of these receptors in supramolecular chemistry is illustrated, for example, by the spontaneous self-assembly and crystallization of a five-component [3]pseudorotaxane from a solution of its constituents.