No abstract

This tutorial review summarises different aspects of cooperativity in supramolecular complexes. We propose a systematic categorisation of cooperativity into cooperative aggregation, intermolecular (allosteric) cooperativity, intramolecular (chelate) cooperativity and interannular cooperativity and discuss approaches to quantify them thermodynamically using cooperativity factors. A brief summary of methods to determine the necessary thermodynamic data is given with emphasis on isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), a method still underrepresented in supramolecular chemistry, which however offers some advantages over others. Finally, a discussion of very few selected examples, which highlight different aspects to illustrate why such an analysis is useful, rounds up this review.

The ability of an E-configured azobenzene guest to undergo photoisomerisation is controlled by the presence of a complementary host. Addition of base/acid allowed for a weakening/strengthening of the interactions in the divalent pseudo[2]rotaxane complex and hence could switch on/off photochromic activity.

The Gibbs energies of association ΔGsolT between primary alkyl ammonium ions and crown ethers in solution are measured and calculated. Measurements are performed by isothermal titration calorimetry and revealed a strong solvent-dependent ion pair effect. Calculations are performed with density functional theory including Grimme's dispersion correction D3(BJ). The translational, rotational, and vibrational contributions to the Gibbs energy of association ΔGsolT are taken into account by a rigid-rotor-harmonic-oscillator approximation with a free-rotor approximation for low lying vibrational modes. Solvation effects δGseT are taken into account by applying the continuum solvation model COSMO-RS. Our study aims at finding a suitable theoretical method for the evaluation of the host guest interaction in crown/ammonium complexes as well as the observed ion pair effects. A good agreement of theory and experiment is only achieved, when solvation and the effects of the counterions are explicitly taken into account.

A bis‐urea‐functionalized ditopic subcomponent assembled with 2‐formylpyridine and FeII, resulting in a dynamic library of metal–organic assemblies: an irregular FeII4L6 structure and three FeII2L3 stereoisomers: left‐ and right‐handed helicates and a meso‐structure. This library reconfigured in response to the addition of monosaccharide derivatives, which served as guests for specific library members, and the rate of saccharide mutarotation was also enhanced by the library. The (P) enantiomer of the FeII2L3 helical structure bound β‐D‐glucose selectively over α‐D‐glucose. As a consequence, the library collapsed into the (P)‐FeII2L3 helicate following glucose addition. The α‐D‐glucose was likewise transformed into the β‐D‐anomer during equilibration and binding. Thus, β‐D‐glucose and (P)‐3 amplified each other in the product mixture, as metal–organic and saccharide libraries geared together into a single equilibrating system.