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The Assembly of Supramolecular Boxes and Coordination Polymers Based on Bis‐Zinc‐Salphen Building Blocks
Author(s) -
Kuil Mark,
Puijk Iris M.,
Kleij Arjan W.,
Tooke Duncan M.,
Spek Anthony L.,
Reek Joost N. H.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
chemistry – an asian journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.18
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1861-471X
pISSN - 1861-4728
DOI - 10.1002/asia.200800147
Subject(s) - supramolecular chemistry , zinc , polymer , chemistry , molecule , nitrogen , coordination polymer , solvent , coordination complex , toluene , supramolecular polymers , combinatorial chemistry , polymer chemistry , organic chemistry , metal
We report the assembly of supramolecular boxes and coordination polymers based on a rigid bis‐zinc(II)‐salphen complex and various ditopic nitrogen ligands. The use of the bis‐zinc(II)‐salphen building block in combination with small ditopic nitrogen ligands gave organic coordination polymers both in solution as well as in the solid state. Molecular modeling shows that supramolecular boxes with small internal cavities can be formed. However, the inability to accommodate solvent molecules (such as toluene) in these cavities explains why coordination polymers are prevailing over well‐defined boxes, as it would lead to an energetically unfavorable vacuum. In contrast, for relatively longer ditopic nitrogen ligands, we observed the selective formation of supramolecular box assemblies in all cases studied. The approach can be easily extended to chiral analogues by using chiral ditopic nitrogen ligands.