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Dendrophanes: Novel steroid-recognizing dendritic receptors. Preliminary communication

The H2O-soluble dendritic cyclophanes (dendrophanes) 3-5 of first to third generation with molecular weights up to nearly 20 kD were synthesized, purified, and characterized. Cyclophane 2, which served as the initiator core (generation zero), was prepared from tetrabromocyclophane 10 in a four-step sequence which involved as the first transformation a high-yielding, four-fold Pd(0)-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling reaction with 4-(benzyloxy)phenyl-boronic acid to give 18. The X-ray crystal-structure analysis of tetrabromocyclophane 10 displayed an open, nearly rectangular box with opposite aromatic walls being 8.3 and 11.4 A apart and of suitable size for the incorporation of steroidal substrates. 1H-NMR Binding titrations in borate-buffered D2O/CD3OD 1:1 showed that cyclophane-tetracarboxylate 2 forms 1:1 inclusion complexes with steroids. Complexation was found to be enthalpically driven with higher binding affinities measured for the more apolar substrates. 1H-NMR Titrations in the same solvent also provided clear evidence for core-selective complexation of testosterone (21) by the dendrophanes 3 (1st), 4 (2nd), and 5 (3rd generation) carrying up to 108 carboxylate surface groups. The stability of the corresponding 1:1 complexes was hardly affected by the size of the dendritic shell, although some generation-dependent conformational changes in the receptor cavity seemed to take place. Remarkably, host-guest exchange kinetics in all recognition processes were fast on the 1H-NMR time scale.

New Cyclophanes as Initiator Cores for the Construction of Dendritic Receptors: Host-Guest Complexation in Aqueous Solutions and Structures of Solid-State Inclusion Compounds

Cyclophanes 3 and 4 were prepared as initiator cores for the construction of dendrophanes (dendritic cyclophanes) 1 and 2, respectively, which mimic recognition sites buried in globular proteins. The tetraoxy[6.1.6.1]paracyclophane 3 was prepared by a short three-step route (Scheme 1) and possesses a cavity binding site shaped by two diphenylmethane units suitable for the inclusion of flat aromatic substrates such as benzene and naphthalene derivatives as was shown by 1H-NMR binding titrations in basic D2O phosphate buffer (Table 1). The larger cyclophane 4, shaped by two wider naphthyl(phenyl)methane spacers, was prepared in a longer, ten-step synthesis (Scheme 2) which included as a key intermediate the tetrabromocyclophane 5. 1H-NMR Binding studies in basic borate buffer in D2O/CD3OD demonstrated that 4 is an efficient steroid receptor. In a series of steroids (Table 1), complexation strength decreased with increasing substrate polarity and increasing number of polar substituents; in addition, electrostatic repulsion between carboxylate residues of host and guest also affected the binding affinity strongly. The conformationally flexible tetrabromocyclophane 5 displayed a pronounced tendency to form solid-state inclusion compounds of defined stoichiometry, which were analyzed by X-ray crystallography (Fig. 2). 1,2-Dichloroethane formed a cavity inclusion complex 5a with 1:1 stoichiometry, while in the 1:3 inclusion compound Sb with benzene, one guest is fully buried in the macrocyclic cavity and two others are positioned in channels between the cyclophanes in the crystal lattice. In the 1:2 inclusion compound 5c, two toluene molecules penetrate with their aromatic rings the macrocyclic cavity from opposite sides in an antiparallel fashion. On the other hand, p-xylene (= 1,4-dimethylbenzene) in the 1:1 compound 5d is sandwiched between the cyclophane molecules with its two Me groups penetrating the cavities of the two macrocycles. In the 1:2 inclusion compound 5e with tetralin (= 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene), both host and guest are statically disordered. The shape of the macrocycle in 5a-e depends strongly on the nature of the guest (Fig. 4). Characteristic for these compounds is the pronounced tendency of 5 to undergo regular stacking and to form channels for guest inclusion; these channels can infinitely extend across the macrocyclic cavities (Fig. 6) or in the crystal lattice between neighboring cyclophane stacks (Fig. 5). Also, the crystal lattice of 5c displays a remarkable zig-zag pattern of short Br ... O contacts between neighboring macrocycles (Fig. 7).