Trianglamines, macrocyclic heteraphanes, were readily synthesised through a [3+3] cyclocondensation of (R,R)-1,2-diaminocyclohexane with terephthalaldehyde, followed by NaBH4 reduction and N-alkylation. The macrocyclic ring shows a remarkable ability to change its conformation, as a consequence of rotation about the C-N bonds or nitrogen inversion due to protonation or N-alkylation, as revealed by circular dichroism spectra, computational modelling and X-ray diffraction analysis. The flexible natures of the trianglamine macrocycles allow ready accommodation of a variety of guest molecules to form crystalline inclusion complexes of highly diversified interpenetrating structures.

The three-dimensional metal-organic framework poly[bis(dimethylammonium) [hexa-mu(2)-formato-kappa(12)O:O'-aluminium(III)sodium(I)]], {(C(6)H(8)N)(2)[AlNa(HCOO)(6)]}(n), was obtained serendipitously and has been characterized by X-ray diffraction. The product has arisen as a result of a hydrolysis reaction of dimethylformamide (DMF) and contains dimethylammonium (DMA) cations included in structural voids formed by a three-dimensional [AlNa(HCOO)(6)](-) network. This study provides evidence that, in the presence of traces of aluminium, DMF stored in a glass bottle can be hydrolysed to formate and dimethylamine with simultaneous extraction of Na(+) cations from the glass. It also demonstrates that care must be taken regarding the metal and water content when DMF is not freshly distilled, since the hydrolysis of amide can occur.

The four-carbon chain in (R,R)-tartaric acid derivatives is predominantly antiperiplanar (trans) in the acid, its salts, esters, and NH-amides, while (-)-synclinal (gauche) conformer is the most abundant in N,N'-tetraalkyltartramides. Trialkylsilylation or tert-butylation of the hydroxy groups at C2 and C3 does not appear to affect the conformational preference of NH-tartramides, but it does change the conformational equilibrium in the case of tartrates (toward (-)-gauche) and N,N'-tetraalkyltartramides (toward trans), as judged from the NMR data. X-ray diffraction data point to the stabilizing role of antiparallel dipole-dipole interactions due to the 1,3-CO/CH bonds. These interactions can be found in the trans and (-)-gauche conformers but are not possible for the (+)-gauche conformers of (R,R)-tartaric acid derivatives. This rationalizes small proportion of (+)-gauche conformers in tartaric acid derivatives and points to a significance of 1,3-dipole-dipole interactions. The conformation around the C1-C2 (and C3-C4) bond is different in tartrates (O-C-C=O, syn) and tartramides (O-C-C=O, anti); the CD data (n-pi* band) show that O-silylation or O-tert-butylation brings about conformational changes around the C1-C2 bond in the case of N,N'-tetraalkyldiamides only.

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C6H10N3+.C7H5O3-, the asymmetric unit contains four crystallographically independent 2-amino-4,6-dimethylpyrimidinium and salicylate ions (Z = 8). In each of these, one of the pyrimidine N atoms is protonated, and the carboxylate group of the salicylate ion interacts with the pyrimidine group through a pair of N-H...O hydrogen bonds, forming an R2(2)(8) motif. The pyrimidine cations also form base pairs via a pair of N-H...N hydrogen bonds (involving the amino group and the unprotonated ring N atom), forming another R2(2)(8) motif. Three such R2(2)(8) motifs, fused together, constitute a closed cyclic aggregate, and the linking of these aggregates, arranged in consecutive layers, can be analysed in terms of off-face stacking interactions.

In the title compound, C6H10N3+.HSO4-, the asymmetric unit consists of a hydrogen sulfate anion and a 2-amino-4,6-dimethylpyrimidinium cation. The hydrogen sulfate anions self-assemble through O-H...O hydrogen bonds, forming supramolecular chains along the b axis, while the organic cations form base pairs via N-H...N hydrogen bonds. The aminopyrimidinium cations join to the sulfate anions via a pair of hydrogen bonds donated from the pyrimidinium protonation site and from the exo amine group cis to the protonated site.

Key indicatorsSingle-crystal X-ray study T = 170 K Mean (C-C) = 0.004 Å R factor = 0.044 wR factor = 0.122 Data-to-parameter ratio = 14.8For details of how these key indicators were automatically derived from the article, see

Aliphatic dialdehydes of rigid structures having a cyclohexane, a bicyclo[2.2.2]octane or a [7]triangulane skeleton, have been condensed with enantiomerically pure trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane to give [3+3] or [2+2] macrocyclization products. Unlike acyclic aliphatic imines, these macrocyclic oligoimines show enhanced stabilities and their structures in the crystals could be determined by X-ray diffraction analyses. The enantiomerically pure [7]triangulane dialdehyde showed remarkable diastereoselectivity in the condensation with the two enantiomers of trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane: only one of the enantiomers gave a [2+2] macrocyclization product. Circular dichroism measurements combined with computational analysis show that the lowest energy electronic transition in these cyclic oligoimines is of n-pi* type.

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