Dialkylammonium Ion/Crown Ether Complexes: The Forerunners of a New Family of Interlocked Molecules

Abstract

A simple motif for molecular recognition—the binding of disubstituted ammonium salts, for example dibenzyl- and di-n-butylammonium hexaflurophosphate, with crown ethers like dibenzo[24]crown-8—results in the self-assembly of threaded 1:1 complexes 1. The superstructures of these complexes are stabilized by hydrogen bonds, electrostatic pole–dipole interactions, and dispersive interactions.