In supramolecular chemistry, coordination cages of the [Pd2L4] type represent a family of diverse metallo-supramolecular structures with rich host-guest chemistry. To achieve greater structural complexity and functionality, heteroleptic [Pd2LA2LB2] cages, containing two different ligands, have been achieved in the next step. While there have been diverse approaches on heteroleptic cage design, this work focusses mainly on the shape-complementary approach utilizing complementary binding angles and the entropic penalty the system has to overcome forming larger structures. Focus of this work is the design of shape complementary ligands that carry functional groups for hydrogen bonding pointing to the inside of the final cage. The cages are then analyzed with regard to their ability to bind neutral guests and finally finding suitable reactions to carry out inside the cage to obtain a supramolecular artificial enzyme. Analytical procedures include basic 1D and 2D NMR experiments, ESI-MS and X-ray analysis. Furthermore, we started to analyze complex mixtures of up to ten different heteroleptic cages using trapped-ion-mobility spectrometry (TIMS) measurements, proving it to be a valuable addition to our standard analytic methods.

Systematic studies on heteroleptic coordination cages

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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