*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-Mail: stoddart@chem.ucla.eduOne sentence summary -The realization of the Borromean link as a molecular compound has been accomplished synthetically by exploiting the virtues of coordination, supramolecular, and dynamic covalent chemistry in a cooperative manner.

A paradigm shift away from using solvents in organic synthesis as solventless reactions can lead to improved outcomes, and more benign synthetic procedures, in for example aldol condensation reactions, sequential aldol and Michael addition reactions en route to Kröhnke type pyridines, reactions leading to 3-carboxycoumarins, benzylidenes, 4-aryl-1,4-dihydropyridines and 2-aryl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinazolines, and oligomerisation reactions for the synthesis of cavitands; kinetic considerations for the reaction of two solids can only be explained if a eutectic melt is formed during the reaction.

An important problem in designing any large network is the assembly of systems that are resilient to change. From a chemical point of view, an analogy can be used where one requires supramolecular assemblies to maintain their dimensionality combined with limited structural perturbation in response to variation in its intermolecular framework. The identification of hydrogenbonded framework patterns within experimentally known supramolecular assemblies that are structurally robust to disruption and selective hydrogen substitution are envisioned to act as a supramolecular blueprint or template for metal-ion retroinsertion. Here, we report the formation of a large neutral discrete pseudo-spherical coordination capsule assembled from 6 pyrogallol[4]arene ligands and 24 Cu(II) metal ions. Amazingly, this coordination capsule is structurally analogous to its hydrogenbonded counterpart. This result shows a robust ability of pyrogallol[4]arene molecules to self-assemble into large hexameric cage structures from either the hydrogen-bonding or metal-ligand coordination process. The identification of robust supramolecular assemblies that conserve their structure in response to interchangeability between hydrogen-bonded networks for metal coordination, or inversely, represents an important advancement in supramolecular design.coordination ͉ self-assembly ͉ hexamer I nspired by the architectural beauty and robustness found within nature, the design of large multicomponent spheroid cage assemblies on the nanometer scale is becoming increasing feasible. These large supramolecular architectures often resemble and conform to the simple geometrical shapes described by Platonic or Archimedean solids (1). Indeed, such structural morphologies have attracted tremendous interest because of their practical applications for encapsulating various guest molecules (2). Synthetic chemists have principally relied on various self-assembly methods in their construction, such as hydrogen bonds (3) or metal-ligand coordination (4), although some notable covalent methods have recently been reported (5).A popular strategy for designing large multicomponent cage assemblies is the metal-directed self-assembly approach, advocated chiefly by Fujita and coworkers (6-9) and Stang and coworkers (10-12). This method has mainly focused on the geometrical permutation of various triangular pyridine-like bridging ligands driven by coordination to cis-protected Pd metal centers. Nevertheless, for the construction of discrete assemblies with large molecular cavities, the molecular paneling approach by Fujita and coworkers (13) has received the most success. Indeed, an amazingly large discrete functionalized spherical coordination network assembled from 12 metal ions and 24 exo-multidentate ligands was recently reported (14). However, an inherent complication of using n-dimensional pyridine-like spacer multidentate ligands in coordination is the resultant high positive charge combined with porous surfaces within these supramolecular assemblies. The counterions us...

Metalation of 2,6-diphenylpyridine (1) by potassium tetrachloroplatinate in acetic acid gives a monocyclometalated chloride-bridged dimer 4. This dimer is split with CO to give a kinetic product 9t with the incoming CO trans to the orthometalated carbon. The kinetic product of cleavage is shown to be 16 kJ mol -1 higher in energy than the thermodynamic product 9c, which has the CO trans to the pyridine nitrogen. The isomerization of 9t to 9c is shown not to take place via an associative mechanism and, with analogue 11, is effectively suppressed when excess chloride is added, implying that it takes place via a chloride dissociation. The monocyclometalated 9 undergoes a second cyclometalation to give the C∧N∧C dicyclometalated complex 15 in high yield. This second cyclometalation is brought about by the simple expedient of adding water to the monocyclometalated precursor. The addition of water is rationalized on the basis of needing to ionize the HCl byproduct of the reaction. Using a substituted pyridine (5) analogous chemistry is observed. Single-crystal X-ray structures of one of the intermediates (6) and one of the final products (15) have been solved. Density functional theory calculations are used to rationalize the isomerizations of the monocyclometalated intermediates and the need to ionize HCl in the second cyclometalation.

Knots galore: With a judicious choice of ions and solvents, it is possible to amplify a molecular Solomon link by kinetically controlled crystallization from a dynamic combinatorial library of molecular knots (see scheme).

2,6-Diphenylpyridine is metalated twice by potassium tetrachloroplatinate in acetic acid to give in high yield a complex with a tridentate ligand bound to the metal via a C∧N∧C donor set. This complex and three derivatives have been characterized, including the single-crystal X-ray analysis of one derivative.

The dynamic solution equilibria between molecular Borromean rings (BRs) and Solomon knots (SKs), assembled from transition metal-templated macrocycles, consisting of exo-bidentate bipyridyl and endo-tridentate diiminopyridyl ligands, have been examined with respect to the choice of the metal template and reaction conditions employed in the synthesis of the metalated BRs, otherwise known as Borromeates. Three new Borromeates, their syntheses templated by Cu(II), Co(II), and Mn(II), have been characterized extensively (two by X-ray crystallography) to the extent that the metal centers in the assemblies have been shown to be distanced sufficiently from each other not to communicate. The solid-state structure of the Co(II)-Borromeate reveals that six MeOH molecules, arranged in a [O--H...O] hydrogen bonded, chair-like conformation, are located within its oxophilic central cavity. When a mixture of Cu(II) and Zn(II) is used as the source of templation, there exists a dynamic equilibrium, in MeOH at room temperature, between a mixed-metal BR and a SK, from which the latter has been fractionally crystallized. By employing appropriate synthetic protocols with Zn(II) or Cd(II) as the template, significant amounts of SKs are formed alongside BRs. Modified crystallization conditions resulted in the isolation of both an all-zinc BR and an all-zinc SK, crystals of which can be separated manually, leading to the full characterization of the all-zinc SK by (1)H NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. This doubly interlocked [2]catenate has been identified retrospectively in recorded spectra, where it was attributed previously to a Borromeate with a Zn(II) cation coordinated to the oxophilic interior walls of the ensemble. Interestingly, these Zn(II)-templated assemblies do not interconvert in MeOH at room temperature, indicating the significant influence of both the metal template and solvent on the solution equilibria. It would also appear that d(10) metal ions favor SK formation-no evidence of Cu(II)-, Co(II)-, or Mn(II)-templated SKs has been found, yet a 1:0.9 ratio of BR:SK has been identified by (1)H NMR spectroscopy when Cd(II) is used as the template.

A series of cyclometallated phenylpyridine platinum(II) complexes have been synthesised with a systematic variation in both the phenylpyridine and the ancillary ligand. Oxidation of one of the cyclometallated species leads to a number of isomeric platinum(IV) complexes, all of which eventually isomerize to a single compound. The route to these new compounds has been demonstrated to involve an initial slow oxidation followed by a rapid C-H activation to give doubly cyclometallated complexes. The solid state structures of a number of both the platinum(II) and the platinum(IV) species have been solved; many of the structures exhibited extended interactions that result in complex three dimensional packing.