Ammonium‐Iron(III) metallacryptate inclusion complexes based on Aroylbis(N,N‐diethylthioureas): Synthesis and structure

Abstract

One‐pot reactions of pyridine‐ or catechol‐scaffolding aroylbis(N,N‐diethylthioureas), H2L1 or H2L2, with methanolic solutions of FeCl3 and NH4Cl bring about novel cationic ammonium‐inclusion complexes {NH4 ⊂ [Fe2(L)3]}+ (L = L1 or L2), which could be separated as PF6– salts. The inclusion compounds have been characterized by elemental analyses and spectroscopic methods such as HRMS, IR and SCXRD. Ammonium ions are captured in the intramolecular voids of {2}‐metallacryptands {[Fe2(L)3]} (L = L1 or L2) resulting from the octahedral coordination of Fe3+ ions with aroylthiourea moieties of the ligands. Hydrogen bonds are established between the NH4+ ions and the donor atoms of the cages.