Towards Hypervalent Iodine Macrocycle based Supramolecular Cages

Supramolecular cages, featuring well-defined molecular cavities, have gained interest in material chemistry owing to their adjustable shapes and sizes, selective host-guest chemistry, and dynamic bonding behavior. This study explored our attempts to synthesize supramolecular cages based on dynamic secondary bonding in hypervalent iodine systems. Hypervalent iodine-based cage precursors consisting of two iodine centers were linked together by di-yne pillars were successfully synthesized in multiple steps. Unfortunately, preliminary attempts to convert the cage precursor into a desired cage material have resulted in insoluble materials that are difficult to characterize. As an attempt to address solubility issues, an alternative alkoxy derived cage precursor was synthesized successfully in multiple steps. Upon attempted formation of the cage compound, these soluble chain-containing materials also suffered from low solubilities. The general design strategy and synthesis of the precursor materials is provided.