A metal-directed self-assembled electroactive cage with bis(pyrrolo)tetrathiafulvalene (BPTTF) side walls

J Am Chem Soc. 2012 Jul 25;134(29):11968-70. doi: 10.1021/ja305451v. Epub 2012 Jul 12.

Abstract

A straightforward synthesis of a bis(pyrrolo)tetrathiafulvalene (BPTTF)-based tetratopic ligand bearing four pyridyl units is described. The first example of a TTF-based self-assembled cage has been produced from this redox-active ligand through metal-directed synthesis with a cis-coordinated square-planar Pt(II) complex. The resulting cage corresponds to a trigonal-prismatic structure, as shown by X-ray crystallography. A UV-vis titration indicated that the electron-rich cavity can be used to incorporate one molecule of tetrafluorotetracyano-p-quinodimethane (TCNQF(4)).