Helix-like receptors for perrhenate recognition forming hydrogen bonds with all four oxygen atoms†

Abstract

Supramolecular recognition of perrhenate is a challenging task due to therelatively large size and low charge density of this anion. In this work, we design and synthesize a family of helix-like synthetic receptors that can bind perrhenate by forming hydrogen bonds with all four oxygen atoms of the anion. Among the investigated rigid helix-forming subunit derived from 1,1′-ferrocenedicarboxylic acid, 1,3-phenylenediacetic acid and 2,2′-(ethyne-1,2-diyl)dibenzoic acid, the latter one shows the best selectivity for perrhenate recognition. However, the receptor based on 1,1′-ferrocenedicarboxylic acid demonstrates selectivity to bind chloride in a 1:2 fashion. The properties of the receptors are investigated in the acetonitrile solution by using NMR, UV–Vis, and in the solid state by single crystal X-ray analysis.