Examining the Scope and Thermodynamics of Assembly in Nesting Complexes Comprising Molecular Baskets and TPA Ligands.

Molecular baskets capture various tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine ligands, with and without zinc(II) cation, to form nesting complexes. The results of our computational (MD) and experimental (1H NMR/ITC) studies suggest that the assembly is driven by the hydrophobic effect with the charge of complementary molecular components playing an important role in the formation of nesting complexes. In brief, the complexation only takes place when the basket and the ligand carry either oppositely charged or noncharged groups.