Effects of subtle differences in ligand constitution and conformation in metallo-supramolecular self-assembled polygonsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Synthesis and analytical data of the ligands and metallo-macrocycles, additional NMR and tandem ESI mass spectra. See DOI: 10.1039/c1dt10621j

• Main Authors: Brusilowskij, Boris, Dzyuba, Egor V, Troff, Ralf W, Schalley, Christoph A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1477-9226; 1477-9234
• DOI: 10.1039/c1dt10621j

3,3′-Bis(pyridin-[ n ]-ylethynyl)biphenyl ( n = 3, 4) and the corresponding 2,2′-bipyridines assemble with (dppp)Pt II triflate into metallo-supramolecular polygons. Depending on the position of the terminal pyridine N atoms, the assembly reaction leads to different equilibrium products. With the slow ligand exchange on Pt II complexes, the equilibrium is reached on a many-hour time-scale. During the assembly process, larger polygons form under kinetic control. This was confirmed by time-dependent 1 H and 31 P NMR spectroscopy in line with complementary ESI mass spectrometric experiments. The constitutional difference in the pyridine N-atom position is reflected in the tandem mass spectra of the complex ions. In addition, a highly specific fragmentation process of mass-selected M 3 L 3 ions was observed, which proceeds through a ring contraction yielding smaller M 2 L 2 ions. 3,3′-Bis(pyridin-[ n ]-ylethynyl)biphenyl ( n = 3, 4) and the corresponding 2,2′-bipyridines assemble with (dppp)Pt II triflate into metallo-supramolecular polygons.