Multidentate Lewis acids. Complex of a macrocyclic host with a bidentate guest

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/om00118a066

Neutralization of the mercuric oxide 1b with hexafluoroglutaric acid in 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME) produces the 1:4 DME adduct of macrocyclic tetradentate Lewis acid 2b in 76% yield. An X-ray crystallographic study revealed that the macrocyclic host is approximately planar and that each 1,2-phenylenedimercury unit is associated with two molecules of DME, one above the plane and the other below. One oxygen atom from each molecule of DME bridges the two mercury atoms, and the other oxygen interacts with a single mercury. The resulting adduct is the first structurally characterized complex in which a basic guest and a multidentate Lewis acidic host share more than two bonds.