Host⋅guest complexes between cucurbit[7] (CB[7]) or CB[8] and diamantane diammonium ion guests 3 or 6 were studied by (1) H NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. (1) H NMR competition experiments revealed that CB[7]⋅6 is among the tightest monovalent non-covalent complexes ever reported in water with Ka =7.2×10(17)  M(-1) in pure D2 O and 1.9×10(15)  M(-1) in D2 O buffered with NaO2 CCD3 (50 mM). The crystal structure of CB[7]⋅6 allowed us to identify some of the structural features responsible for the ultratight binding, including the distance between the NMe3 (+) groups of 6 (7.78 Å), which allows it to establish 14 optimal ion-dipole interactions with CB[7], the complementarity of the convex van der Waals surface contours of 6 with the corresponding concave surfaces of CB[7], desolvation of the CO portals within the CB[7]⋅6 complex, and the co-linearity of the C7  axis of CB[7] with the N(+) ⋅⋅⋅N(+) line in 6. This work further blurs the lines of distinction between natural and synthetic receptors.

This report is based on a thesis by the first author for the Master of Arts degree.

We present experimental and theoretical findings on the geometry of polycrystalline para hexaphenyl via Raman scattering. The planarity of the molecule is affected by hydrostatic pressure and temperature.Our studies indicate that the potential energy curve which governs the torsional motion between neighboring phenyl rings is "W" shaped. We determine the activation energy to promote the molecule from a nonplanar to a planar state to be 0.04 eV, in good agreement with our quantum chemical calculations. From the relative intensities of the 1280 cm 21 to the 1220 cm 21 Raman modes we show that high pressure planarizes the molecules, modifying the "W"-shaped potential energy curve to a "U"-shaped one.[S0031-9007(99)09073-0]

Solvent effects on the NMR spectra of symmetrical (X = F (1), X = Cl (2), X = Br (3), X = I (4), X = NO2 (5), X = CN (6)) and unsymmetrical (X = I, Y = MeO (7), Y = PhO (8)) para-disubstituted acetophenone azines X-C6H4-CMe=N-N=CMe-C6H4-Y and of models X-C6H4-CMe=N-Z (X = I, Z = H (9), Z = NH2 (10)), 4-iodoacetophenone (11), and iodobenzene (12) were measured in CDCl(3), DMSO, THF, pyridine, and benzene to address one intramolecular and one intermolecular issue. Solvent effects on the (13)C NMR spectra are generally small, and this finding firmly establishes that the azine bridge indeed functions as a "conjugation stopper," an important design concept in our polar materials research. Since intermolecular halogen bonding of haloarenes do occur in polar organic crystalline materials, the NMR solution data pose the question as to whether the absence of solvent shifts indicates the absence of strong halogen bonding in solution. This question was studied by the theoretical analysis of the DMSO complexes of iodoarenes 4, 9-12, and of iodoacetylene. DFT and MP2 computations show iodine bonding, and characteristic structural and electronic features are described. The nonrelativistic complexation shifts and the change in the spin-orbit induced heavy atom effect of iodine compensate each other, and iodine bonding thus has no apparent effect on Ci in the iodoarenes. For iodides, complexation by DMSO occurs and may or may not manifest itself in the NMR spectra. The absence of complexation shifts in the NMR spectra of halides does not exclude the occurrence of halogen bonding in solution.

Host⋅guest complexes between cucurbit[7] (CB[7]) or CB[8] and diamantane diammonium ion guests 3 or 6 were studied by 1H NMR spectroscopy and X‐ray crystallography. 1H NMR competition experiments revealed that CB[7]⋅6 is among the tightest monovalent non‐covalent complexes ever reported in water with Ka=7.2×1017 M−1 in pure D2O and 1.9×1015 M−1 in D2O buffered with NaO2CCD3 (50 mM). The crystal structure of CB[7]⋅6 allowed us to identify some of the structural features responsible for the ultratight binding, including the distance between the NMe3+ groups of 6 (7.78 Å), which allows it to establish 14 optimal ion‐dipole interactions with CB[7], the complementarity of the convex van der Waals surface contours of 6 with the corresponding concave surfaces of CB[7], desolvation of the CO portals within the CB[7]⋅6 complex, and the co‐linearity of the C7 axis of CB[7] with the N+⋅⋅⋅N+ line in 6. This work further blurs the lines of distinction between natural and synthetic receptors.