Titanocalix[4]arenes are shown to be active for the ROP of cyclic esters under N2 or air with the mono-methoxy complex [Ti(NCMe)Cl(p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene(O)3(OMe))] performing best.

Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) is a method of identifying small molecule hits that can be elaborated rationally through fragment growing, merging and linking, to afford high-affinity ligands for biological targets. Despite the promised theoretical potential of fragment linking, examples are still surprisingly sparse and remain overshadowed by the successes of fragment growing. The aim of this review was to outline a number of key examples of fragment-linking strategies and discuss their strengths and limitations. Structure-based approaches including X-ray crystallography and in silico methods of fragment optimization are discussed, as well as fragment linking guided by NMR experiments. Targetguided approaches, exploiting the biological target to assemble its own inhibitors through dynamic combinatorial chemistry (DCC) and kinetic target-guided synthesis (KTGS), are identified as alternative efficient methods for fragment linking.

Interaction of p-tert-butylcalix[6]areneH6, L1H6, with [TiCl4] afforded the complex [Ti2Cl3(MeCN)2(OH2)(L1H)][Ti2Cl3(MeCN)3(L1H)]∙4.5MeCN (1∙4.5MeCN), in which two pseudo octahedral titanium centres are bound to one calix[6]arene. A similar reaction but employing THF resulted...

A number of metallocalix[n]arenes, where n = 4, 6, or 8, of titanium and vanadium have been screened for their ability to act as catalysts for the co‐polymerization of propylene oxide and CO2 to form cyclic/polycarbonates. The vanadium‐containing catalysts, namely [VO(L1Me)] (1), [(VO2)L2H6] (2), [Na(NCMe)6]2[(Na[VO]4L2)(Na(NCMe))3]2 (3), [VO(μ‐OH)L3/H2]2∙6CH2Cl2 (4), {[VO]2(μ‐O)L4[Na(NCMe)2]2} (5), {[V(Np‐tolyl)]2L4} (6) and [V(Np‐RC6H4)Cl3] (R = Cl (7), OMe (8), CF3 (9)), where L1H3 = methylether‐p‐tert‐butylcalix[4]areneH3, L2H8 = p‐tert‐butylcalix[8]areneH8, L3H4 = p‐tert‐butylthiacalix[4]areneH4, L4H6 = p‐tert‐butyltetrahomodioxacalix[6]areneH6, performed poorly, affording, in the majority of cases, TONs less than 1 at 90°C over 6 h and low molecular weight oligomeric products (Mn ≤ 1665). In the case of the titanocalix[8]arenes, {(TiX)2[TiX(NCMe)]2(μ3‐O)2(L2)} (X = Cl (10), Br (11), I (12)), which all adopt a similar, ladder‐type structure, the activity under the same conditions is somewhat higher (TONs >6) and follows the trend Cl > Br > I; by comparison the non‐calixarene species [TiCl4(THF)2] was virtually inactive. In the case of 10, it was observed that the use of PPNCl (bis[triphenylphosphine]iminium chloride) as co‐catalyst significantly improved both the polymer yield and molecular weight (Mn 3515). The molecular structures of the complexes [HNEt3]2[VO(μ‐O)L3H2]2∙3CH2Cl2 (4∙3CH2Cl2), [VO(μ‐OH)L3/H2]2∙6CH2Cl2 (4/) (where L3/H2 is a partially oxidized form of L3H4) and {(TiCl)2[TiCl(NCMe)]2(μ3‐O)2(L2)}·6.5MeCN (10·6.5MeCN) are reported.