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Competing Effects of Chlorination on the Strength of Te⋅⋅⋅O Chalcogen Bonds Select the Structure of Mixed Supramolecular Macrocyclic Aggregates of Iso‐Tellurazole N ‐Oxides
Author(s) -
Ho Peter C.,
Lomax Justin,
Tomassetti Valerie,
Britten James F.,
VargasBaca Ignacio
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.202101425
Subject(s) - chemistry , chalcogen , supramolecular chemistry , crystallography , crystal structure , molecule , homotetramer , organic chemistry , biochemistry , protein subunit , gene
Chlorination of 3‐methyl‐5‐phenyl‐1,2‐tellurazole‐2‐oxide yielded the λ 4 Te dichloro derivative. Its crystal structure demonstrates that the heterocycle retains its ability to autoassociate by chalcogen bonding (ChB) forming macrocyclic tetramers. The corresponding Te⋅⋅⋅O ChB distances are 2.062 Å, the shortest observed to date in aggregates of this type. DFT−D3 calculations indicate that while the halogenated molecule is stronger as a ChB donor it also is a weaker ChB acceptor; the overall effect is that the ChBs in the chlorinated homotetramer are not significantly stronger. However, partial halogenation or scrambling selectively yield the 2 : 2 heterotetramer with alternating λ 4 Te and λ 2 Te centers, which calculations identified as the thermodynamically preferred arrangement.