Pseudorotaxanes Formed Between Secondary Dialkylammonium Salts and Crown Ethers

Abstract

Abstract A very simple self‐assembling system, which produces inclusion complexes with pseudorotaxane geometries, is described. The self‐assembly of eight pseudorotaxanes with a range of stoichiometries–1:1, 1:2, 2:1, and 2:2 (host:guest)–has been achieved. These pseudorotaxanes self‐assemble from readily available components–well‐known crown ethers, such as dibenzo[24]crown‐8 and bis‐ p ‐phenylene[34]crown‐10, and secondary dialkylammonium hexafluorophosphate salts, such as (PhCH 2 ) 2 NH + 2 PF − 6 and ( n Bu) 2 NH + 2 PF − 6 –and have been characterized not only in the solid state, but also in solution and in the “gas phase”. The pseudorotaxanes are stabilized largely by hydrogen‐bonding interactions and, in some instances, by aryl‐aryl interactions.