Communications
stochastic model for isomerization reactions[11g,f] was used to
studying noncovalent interactions between organic molecules
(see the Supporting Information). To assess the role of the
basket as a host, we obtained optimized geometries for the
cyclohexane guest inside the basket (for chair and half-chair
TS structures) and then recomputed the energies of the static
chair and half-chair in a vacuum (that is, without the basket)
relative to fully optimized M06-2X calculations of cyclohex-
ane in a vacuum. According to the DFT results, the chair is
slightly destabilized in the basket relative to the isolated chair
conformer in a vacuum (DE = 0.25 kcalmolÀ1; Figure 4B).
Further inspection of the interatomic distances (Figure 4A)
explain such a result. In contrast to conventional transition-
state theory, this model takes into account the recrossing of
the activation barrier and proposes a dependence of the
transmission coefficient k (the fraction of successful trajecto-
ries) on the collisional frequency of molecules; in conven-
tional transition-state theory k = 1. That is to say, the reaction
coordinate becomes coupled to the surrounding medium
through collisions between solvent and solute molecules. The
unimolecular kinetics that describes the isomerization of
cyclohexane[11c] in the liquid phase conflicts with statistical
RRKM theory, and the transmission coefficient k is a function
of the external pressure or coupling of the solvent and solute.
As the framework of the basket is in intimate and prolonged
contact with the entrapped and rapidly fluctuating cyclohex-
ane, the collisional contribution to the reaction coordinate
could be sufficient[18] to affect the interconversion and thereby
control the isomerization rate. Our computational results,
however, offer an alternative explanation.
The acceleration of cyclohexaneꢀs interconversion in the
interior of these molecular baskets is due to a) a reduced
energy barrier from the chair local minimum to the half-chair
transition state or b) to a more efficient transmission coef-
ficient k.[11b] The basket could contribute energetically in two
ways: the destabilization of the chair conformer and the
stabilization of the half-chair transition state (Figure 4).
The ONIOM[19a] (MP2/6-31G(d):AM1) method was
employed to investigate the complex formed between the
basket and cyclohexane as a guest. Unfortunately, only very
small differences in the geometry and energy for both the
chair and half-chair conformers were seen between calcula-
tions on cyclohexane in a vacuum and in the basket. An
inadequate treatment of the host–guest interactions may be
the main reason for the inability of the ONIOM method to
provide an explanation to this experimental observation (see
Tables S1 and S2 in the Supporting Information).[17] Unfortu-
nately, we were unable to evaluate the system with the MP2
level of theory because of its size.[19b] Thus, we employed
density functional theory (DFT) calculations using the M06-
2X functional,[22] as this method has been optimized for
À
reveal three (cyclohexane) C H···p (basket) contacts
(<2.7 ꢁ from hydrogen to the p centroid)[21] for the encapsu-
lated chair conformation, which leads to the C1 symmetry of
the chair in the basket but a D3d symmetry in a vacuum.
Conversely, relative to the half-chair conformer in a vacuum,
the half-chair transition state of the guest is a more stabilized
structure (DE = À0.90 kcalmolÀ1) in the interior of basket 1.
Examination of the encapsulated half-chair conformation
(Figure 4C) showed that three dihedral angles of the carbon
skeleton changed significantly as a consequence of the
À
“fourth” C H···p interaction with the upper pyridine gate
(see Table S3 in the Supporting Information). This additional
À
C H···p contact may play a role in assisting the “distortion”
of the half-chair conformation, thereby moving it along the
reaction coordinate to more closely resemble the twist-boat
product. Our computational studies implied that the encap-
sulated chair conformation is slightly destabilized and that the
half-chair TS is stabilized in the basket relative to that in a
vacuum. The activation barrier DE° for the interconversion of
cyclohexane was thus computed to be 10.87 kcalmolÀ1 in the
interior of basket 1 (Table 3), which is a significant reduction
from the calculated barrier (12.02 kcalmolÀ1) in a vacuum. A
more favorable conversion of the chair into the half-chair TS
while inside the basket (DDE° = 1.15 kcalmolÀ1, Figure 4B)
is consistent with the experimental finding (DDG° ꢀ 0.5 kcal
molÀ1).
The computational study revealed two Heq atoms and one
À
H
ax atom of the chair conformation making C H···p contacts
with the basket (Figure 4A). This result is in agreement with a
greater difference in the
chemical shift Ddax/eq of the
axial/equatorial protons of
C6D11H inside baskets 1–3
(227 Hz) than in bulk sol-
vent (190 Hz, Figure 3).
Moreover, the splitting
pattern of the 1H NMR
signals of the entrapped
C6D11H did not alter at
lower temperatures, thus
suggesting a low activation
barrier for this compound
tumbling in the interior of
1–3. The results of molec-
ular dynamics (MD) simu-
lations[17] are consistent
Figure 4. Energy-optimized structures of chair (left) and half-chair (right) conformers inside gated molecular
with this observation, dis-
closing a random fluctua-
À
basket 1 (M06-2X/6-31G(d)); note that some structural features are omitted for clarity. Host–guest C H···p
contacts and the dihedral angle f (Df=4.18) are also shown.
4818
ꢀ 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2010, 49, 4816 –4819