The syntheses and conformational studies of [n](2,4)heterophanes and [7](3,5)pyrazolophane

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/S0040-4020(01)97422-8

Synthetic sequences from (n + 3)-membered 2-cycloalkenones provide furan, thiophene and pyrrole derivatives bridged at the 2,4-positions by n-methylene chains (n = 6, 7, and 9) as well as a pyrazole derivative bridged at the 3,5-positions (n = 7). The molecular geometry as a function of the chain length has been investigated spectrometrically. The aliphatic chain of [7](2,4)pyrrolophane and [7](3,5)pyrazolophane is found to reside in the one side of the respective heteroaromatic rings even at 205°, whereas that of [7](2,4)thiophenophane flips up and down the thiophene ring upon heating, the energy barrier ΔG_c^≠ being 18·2 kcal/mol (T_c 111°C at 60 MHz). The conformational behaviour of the heptamethylene chain is thus dependent on the angle between the bonds connecting each heteroaromatic carbon with the benzylic one. Though the hexamethylene chain of the [6](2,4)heterophanes is fixed to the one side of the aromatic ring, the nonamethylene chain of the [9]-homologues is rapidly moving between the both sides even at room temperature. The red-shifts of the B-bands are attributed to the distorted, nonplanar heteroaromatic rings. The mass spectra of these heterophanes indicate the initial C(1)-C(2) fission of the polymethylene chain probably due to the steric strain of the systems.