The molecular tweezers (1, 2) and clips (3-7) containing naphthalene and benzene spacer units can be synthesized via repetitive Diels-Alder reactions by the use of a molecular "Lego" set consisting of bisdienophiles (8, 9, 14) and dienes (10, 13). The new receptors selectively bind electron-deficient neutral and cationic substrates in solution. Only the benzene-spaced tweezers form complexes with aliphatic substrates, whereas the other receptors bind aromatic substrates preferentially. HPLC studies with 1 and 2 chemically bonded to stationary phases give similar results for the heterogeneous systems. The formation of stable complexes between the water-soluble clip 5g and N-alkylpyridinium cations, such as N-methylnicotinamide and NAD(+), in aqueous solution illustrates the importance of the hydrophobic effect for arene-arene interactions. The dynamics of the complex formation and substrate mobility were investigated by the use of temperature-dependent liquid- and solid-state NMR spectroscopy. The electrostatic potential surface (EPS) of 1-7 is calculated to be surprisingly negative on the concave side of each molecule and, hence, complementary to the EPS of the electron-deficient substrates, suggesting that the attractive receptor-substrate interaction is here of predominantly electrostatic nature.

The newly prepared water-soluble naphthalene tweezer 2a and anthracene clip 4a (substituted both with lithium methanephosphonate groups in the central spacer unit) undergo an unexpected self-assembly in aqueous solution. The highly ordered intertwined structures of the self-assembled dimers [2a]2 and [4a]2 were elucidated by quantum chemical 1H NMR shift calculations. 2a and 4a form extremely stable host-guest complexes with N-methylnicotinamide 8 in methanol and water as well. According to the thermodynamic parameters determined by 1H NMR titration experiments at various temperatures the self-assembly of 2a and 4a and their strong binding to NMNA 8 observed in aqueous solution are enthalpy driven (DeltaH << 0); the enthalpic driving force is partially compensated by an unfavorable entropy (TDeltaS < 0). Self-assembly and the host-guest binding are therefore beautiful examples of the nonclassical hydrophobic effect.

A new class of receptor molecules is presented that is highly selective for N-alkylpyridinium ions and electron-poor aromatics. Its key feature is the combination of a well-preorganized molecular clip with an electron-rich inner cavity and strategically placed, flanking bis-phosphonate monoester anions. This shape and arrangement of binding sites attracts predominantly flat electron-poor aromatics in water, binds them mainly by pi-cation, pi-pi, CH-pi, and hydrophobic interactions, and leads to their highly efficient desolvation. NAD(+) and NADP, the important cofactors of many redox enzymes, are recognized by the new receptor molecule, which embraces the catalytically active nicotinamide site and the adenine unit. Even nucleosides such as adenosine are likewise drawn into the clip's cavity. Complex formation and structures were examined by one- and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy, Job plot analyses, and isothermal titration microcalorimetric (ITC) measurements, as well as quantum chemical calculations of (1)H NMR shifts. The new receptor molecule is a promising tool for controlling enzymatic oxidation processes and for DNA chemistry.

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Novel molecular clips with anthracene sidewalls (1 a-c) were synthesized; they form stable host-guest complexes with a variety of electron-deficient aromatic and quinoid molecules. According to single-crystal structure analyses of clip 1 c and 1,2,4,5-tetracyanobenzene (TCNB) complex 14@1 b, the clips' anthracene sidewalls have to be compressed substantially during the complex formation to provide attractive pi-pi interactions between the aromatic guest molecule and the two anthracene sidewalls in the complex. The compression and expansion of aromatic sidewalls are calculated by molecular mechanics to be low-energy processes, so the energy required for compression of the anthracene sidewalls during complex formation is apparently overcompensated by the gain in energy resulting from the attractive pi-pi interactions. The finding that complexes of the clips 1 a-c are more stable than those of the corresponding clips 2 a-c can be explained in terms of the larger van der Waals contact surfaces of the anthracene sidewalls in 1 a-c (relative to the naphthalene sidewalls in 2 a-c). Color changes resulting from charge-transfer (CT) bands are observed in complex formation by 1 a-c: from colorless to red or purple with TCNB (14), and from yellow to green with 2,4,7-trinitro-9-fluorenone TNF (17). Independently, the host 1 b and guest 14 fluoresce from their respective excited singlet states, whilst in the complex 14@1 b the charge-transfer state quenches the higher-energy singlet states of the two components, and as a result luminescence is only observed from this new CT state. To the best of our knowledge, complex 14@1 b is the first example of CT luminescence from a host-guest complex. The binding constant determined for the formation of the TCNB complex 14@1 b from a UV/Vis titration experiment (Ka = 12 400 m(-1)) agrees well with the value (K(a) = 12 800 m(-1)) obtained by 1H NMR titration.

The broad signals in D 2 O could not be assigned by C,H-COSY. Therefore, the assignment of the signals was made by comparison with the signals in CD 3 OD. * The broad signals in D 2 O could not be assigned by C,H-COSY. Therefore, the assignment of the signals was made by comparison with the signals in CD 3 OD.

The novel surprisingly colorful dark blue and orange-red molecular clips 1 and 2 containing a central p-benzoquinone spacer-unit and anthracene or napththalene sidewalls were synthesized by DDQ oxidation of the corresponding colorless hydroquinone clips 7 and 8. The colors of the quinone clips result from broad absorption bands in the visible range (1, lambda(max) = 537 nm and 2, lambda(max) = 423 and lambda(shoulder) =515 nm) showing bathochromic shifts of 112 and 90 nm, respectively, compared to the similarly tetraalkyl-substituted duroquinone 31, even though the clips 1 and 2 only contain insulated pi systems as chromophores, a central tetraalkyl-substituted p-benzoquinone spacer-unit and two anthracene or two naphthalene sidewalls. To elucidate the electronic properties of these clips, we prepared the compound 3, the anti-configured isomer of clip 2, and the benzene-, naphthalene-, and anthracene-substituted quinones 4, 5, and 6, the so-called "half-clips". The "half-clips" 6 and 5 show a similar color change and the same trend in the UV/vis absorption spectra as the anthracene and naphthalene clip 1 and 2. This finding already rules out that the color of these systems is a result of "through-space" pi-pi interactions between the aromatic sidewalls in the molecular clips 1 and 2. Quantum chemical ab initio calculations provide good evidence that the bathochromic shift of the absorption band at the longest wavelength observed in the UV/vis spectra of the clip quinones 2, 3, and 1 and the "half-clip" quinones 4, 5, and 6 with an increasing number of rings in the anellated aromatic unit (from benzene to anthracene) is the result of an increasing configuration interaction between a n --> pi* excitation of the quinoid component and a pi --> pi* excitation with intramolecular charge transfer (CT) character. The initial pi orbitals involved here and in higher lying transitions mainly stem from through-space interactions between pi orbitals of the aromatic sidewalls and pi orbitals of the quinone moiety with varying degree of mixing. The configuration interaction in the excited states can be considered to be a homoconjugation, that is, the relevant charge transfer states are formed across an allegedly insulating aliphatic bridge. The UV/vis spectra of the molecular clips 1-3, the "half-clips" 4-6, and the quinones 32 and 33 simulated by means of quantum chemical ab initio calculations agree well with the experimental spectra.