The synthesis of the tris(triflate) 4 (Scheme 1) has been achieved by means of a straightforward three‐step reaction sequence. After initial lithiation of mesitylene, treatment of the obtained trilithium compound C6H3(CH2Li)3 (2) with oxirane results in the formation of 1,3,5‐tris(3‐hydroxypropyl)benzene (3), which is then transformed to 4 by reaction with (CF3SO2)2O in the presence of pyridine. Whereas 4 reacts with Na2[Os(CO)4] in a somewhat complicated manner, similar reactions with Na[Re(CO)5] and LiPPh2 give the hydrocarbon‐bridged tris(rhenium) complex C6H3[(CH2)3Re(CO)5]3 (5) and the tris(phosphane) C6H3[(CH2)3PPh2]3 (6), respectively. Employing the high‐dilution method, from 6 and Cl2Pt(NCPh)2 the nanoscaled tri‐ and hexaplatinacyclophanes 7 and 9 are available. Owing to the optimal geometry and flexibility of the cage in 7, 1,2‐dichloroethane can be reversibly encapsulated. The molecular structure of 7 · 7 1,2‐Cl2C2H4 was determined by an X‐ray structure analysis. The utility of the reactive metal centers in 7 has been demonstrated by replacing the chloro ligands by acetonitrile to give the cationic platinacyclophane 8, in which, according to NMR studies, the cage‐like structure is preserved.
The gas-phase basicity (GB) of tetra-tert-butyltetrahedrane (tBu4THD) was determined by FT-ICR mass spectrometry and comparison with reference compounds of known basicity. Its GB, 1035+/-10 kJ x mol(-1), makes tetra-tert-butyltetrahedrane one of the strongest bases reported so far. Ab initio calculations [B3LYP/6-31G(d) and B3LYP/6-311 + G(d,p)//6-31G(d)] have been carried out in order to compare the high experimental basicity of tBu4THD with that estimated theoretically. Both B3LYP/6-31G(d) and QCISD(T) calculations were used to determine the reaction path which connects the initial tetrahedrane-ammonium complex with the final products, protonated cyclobutadiene (CBDH+) and ammonia.
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