Ruthenium-Cobalt Bimetallic Supramolecular Cages via a Less Symmetric Tetrapyridyl Metalloligand and the Effect of Spacer Units

J Am Chem Soc. 2015 Oct 14;137(40):13018-23. doi: 10.1021/jacs.5b07625. Epub 2015 Oct 2.

Abstract

The self-assembly of C(s)-symmetric tetrapyridyl cobalt-metalloligand 2 with three half-sandwich diruthenium acceptors, 3-5, led to the formation of A4D2 (A = acceptor, D = donor) metallacages 6-8, as shown by ESI mass spectrometry, NMR spectroscopy, and X-ray crystallography. The solid-state structures of 6-8 revealed that the length of the acceptor unit greatly influences the molecular packing of these metallacages. Hence, in the solid state, 6-8 can be considered to have waterwheel-shaped, tweezer-shaped, and butterfly-like architectures, respectively.