IGOR V. PLETNEV. Can. J. Chem. 72, 1404Chem. 72, (1994. Stereochemistry of metal ion complexes of 1,4,7-triazacyclononane, their N,Nf,N"-tris(aminoethyl), tris(aminopropyl), and their N,N'-(4,7-diazadecylene) derivatives is described in terms of the fusion of chelate rings at metal-nitrogen coordination bonds. Molecular mechanics calculations and analysis of the X-ray data confirm that the semi-quantitative analysis is valid and that fusion plays a critical role in the structure of the complexes. Molecular mechanics study of puckering of the ethylenediamine chelate ring, an essential part in this study, is also presented. IGOR V. PLETNEV. Can. J. Chem. 72, 1404Chem. 72, (1994.On dtcrit la stCrtochimie des complexes d'ions mCtalliques du 1,4,7-triazacyclononane et de ses dCrivCs N,N1,N"-tris(aminoethyl)-, tris(aminopropy1)-et N,N'-(4.7-diazadtcy1kne)-en fonctions de la fusion de noyaux chClates au niveau des liaisons de coordination mttal-azote. Des calculs de mtcanique moltculaire ainsi que des donntes de diffraction des rayons X confirment la validit6 d'une analyse semi-quantitative et prouvent le r61e critique que la fusion joue dans la structure des complexes. On prCsente aussi une Ctude de mCcanique molCculaire du plissement du cycle chtlatC de l'tthylknediamine qui est essentiel dans cette hypothkse.[Traduit par la Redaction] Introduction 1,4,7-Triazacyclononane (tacn) and its derivatives are known as versatile ligands. They are useful in the selective complexation and sequestering of metal ions, the stabilization of unusual oxidation states, magnetic resonance imaging, biomimicricy, etc. (for a review, see ref. 1; for some representative examples, see refs. 2-6). Stereochemistry of complexation plays a key role in all applications. Much is known about the stereochemistry from both experimental (1) and theoretical studies (e.g., molecular mechanics, MM calculations (7)).However, to understand the factors governing the stereochemical patterns, we believe one should focus on the fusion of the chelate rings in these complexes. Simple semi-quantitative analysis of how the conformation of one ring influence the conformation of the other and therefore the whole structure appears helpful in rationalizing the stereochemistry observed (8) and the molecular design (9).In this paper we attempt to apply this approach to conceptualise the stereochemical configurations in tacn complexes and their aminoalkyl derivatives (Fig. 1). MM calculations are used to investigate the puckering of an ethylenediamine chelate ring, which is a key subject in the consideration, and to refine the conformations predicted in polychelate systems.