A heteroditopic ligand associated with a calix[6]arene scaffold bearing a tris(imidazole) coordinating site at its small rim and an amine/pyridine ligand at its large rim has been prepared, and its regioselective coordination to Zn at the small rim and Fe in the amine/pyridine ligand has been achieved. The heterodinuclear complex obtained displays an overall cone conformation capped by the tris(imidazole)Zn moiety and bears a non-heme Fe complex at its base. Each of the metal centers exhibits one labile position, allowing the coordination inside the cavity of a guest alkylamine at Zn and the generation of reaction intermediates (Fe (OOH) and Fe O) at the large rim. A dependence between the chain length of the encapsulated alkylamine and the distribution of Fe (OOH) intermediates and Fe (OMe) is observed. In addition, it is shown that the generation of the Fe O intermediate is enhanced by addition of the alkylamine guest. Hence, this supramolecular system gathers the three levels of reactivity control encountered in oxidoreductases: i) control of the Fe redox properties through its first coordination sphere, allowing us to generate high valent reactive species; ii) control of guest binding through a hydrophobic funnel that drives its alkyl chain next to the reactive iron complex, thus mimicking the binding pocket of natural systems; iii) guest-modulated reactivity of the Fe center towards oxidants.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.