Collect. Czech. Chem. Commun. 2004, 69, 1050-1062
https://doi.org/10.1135/cccc20041050

Cation-π Interactions Between Alkali Metal Cations and Neutral Double Bonds

Jiaxin Hua, Leonard J. Barbourb and George W. Gokela,*

a Departments of Chemistry and Molecular Biology & Pharmacology, Division of Bioorganic Chemistry, Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8103, 660 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110, U.S.A.
b Department of Chemistry, University of Stellenbosch, 7602 Matieland, South Africa

Abstract

Two-armed lariat ethers having double bonds present in their side arms form stable complexes with sodium and potassium cations. When the double bonds are positioned appropriately, cation-π interactions are observed between the neutral double bonds and the macroring- bound cation as demonstrated by X-ray crystallography.

Keywords: Alkali metals; Crown compounds; Azacrown compounds; Alkene complexes; Podands; Macrocycles; Supramolecular chemistry; X-Ray diffraction.

References: 62 live references.