Molecular Lemniscates from Organic-Metal Terpyridine-Based Self-Assembly and Host-Guest Recognition.

The intricate discrete supramolecular architectures via two or more noncovalent interactions are very attractive for chemists. In this paper, a series of homomeric metallo-supramolecular lemniscates were prepared in nearly quantitative yields by assembling either dialkylammonium salt- or benzo-21-crown-7 (B21C7)-containing terpyridyl metallo-organic ligands with Zn2+. Furthermore, the heteromeric analogue could be obtained through two ways: (1) the cooperative interaction of coordination-driven self-assembly and host-guest recognition and (2) the transformation from homodimers to heterodimers driven by host-guest interaction. These supramolecules were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), diffusion-ordered NMR spectroscopy, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and two-dimensional (2D) ion-mobility mass spectrometry.