The present computational study complements experimental efforts to describe and characterize carbo-benzene derivatives as paradigms of aromatic carbo-mers. A long-lasting issue has been the possibility of the π-electron crown of the C18 carbo-benzene ring to fit metals or any chemical agents in its core. A systematic screening of candidate inclusion complexes was carried out by density functional theory calculations. Mayer bond order, aromaticity indices, and energy decomposition analyses complete the understanding of the strength of the host-guest interaction. The change in steric and electronic properties induced by the guest agent is investigated by means of steric maps. Substitution of H atoms at the carbo-benzene periphery by electron-withdrawing or electron-donating groups is shown to have a determining influence on the stability of the inclusion complex ions: while electronegative substituents enhance the recognition of cations, electropositive substituents do the same for anions. The results confirm the experimental failure hitherto to evidence a carbo-benzene complex. Nevertheless, the affinity of carbo-benzene for the potassium cation appears promising for the design of planar hydrocarbon analogues of biologic ion carriersA.P. thanks the Spanish MINECO for a project CTQ2014-59832-JIN and European Commission for a Career Integration Grant (CIG09-GA-2011-293900

The present computational study complements the recent experimental efforts by Karlin and coworkers to describe the interconversion of nitrite to nitric oxide by means of an iron porphyrin complex together with a Cu chemical system, i.e., the iron(II) complex (F8TPP)FeII [F8TPP = tetrakis(2,6-difluorophenyl)porphyrinate(2-)] and a preformed copper(II)-nitrito complex [(tmpa)CuII(NO2)][B(C6F5)4] [tmpa = tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine], being the latter an oxidized species of [(tmpa)CuI(MeCN)]+. By DFT calculations, we unravel how the reduction of nitrite to nitric oxide takes place through a μ-oxo heme-FeIII-O-CuII complex, following a mimetic path as in the cytochrome c oxidase. Mayer bond order (MBO) and energy decomposition analyses are used to analyze the bonding strength of such nitro derivatives to either copper or ironA. P. thanks the Spanish MINECO for a project CTQ2014-59832-JIN and European Commission for a Career Integration Grant (CIG09-GA-2011-293900). M. S. thanks the Generalitat de Catalunya for project 2014SGR931 and ICREA Academia 2014 prize, and MINECO of Spain through project CTQ2014-54306-P. A. P. and M. S. thank EU for the FEDER fund UNGI10-4E-80