Design and self-assembly of ditopic and tetratopic cavitand complexes.

The self-assembly of open ditopic and tetratopic cavitand complexes has been investigated by using monofunctionalized cavitand ligands and suitable metal precursors. In the case of ditopic complexes, self-assembly protocols, leading exclusively to the formation of both thermodynamically stable cis-Pt square-planar complexes 8 and 9 and the kinetically inert fac-Re octahedral complex 14, have been elaborated. The use of cis-[Pt(CH3)CN)2Cl2] as metal precursor led to the formation of monotopic trans-10 and ditopic trans-11 cavitand complexes, while cis-[Pt(dmso)2Cl2] afforded both cis-13 and trans-11 isomers. The self-assembly of tetratopic cavitand complexes has been achieved by using mononuclear [Pd(CH3CN)4(BF4)2] and dinuclear [M2(tppb)(OTf)4] (19: M = Pt; 20: M = Pd) metal precursors. Only the tetratopic dinuclear complexes 21 and 22 were stable. The ligand configuration with two phosphorus and two cavitand ligands at the metal centers is the most appropriate to build tetratopic cavitand complexes with sufficient kinetic stability.