We have synthesized molecular clips 1 comprising (i) two benzo[k]fluoranthene sidewalls and (ii) a dimethylene-connected benzene bridge that carries two acetoxy (1a), hydroxy (1b), or methoxy (1c) substituents in the para position. Their NMR spectra, single-crystal structures, and photophysical (fluorescence intensity, lifetime, depolarization) and electrochemical properties are discussed. For the purpose of comparison, similar compounds (2 and 3) containing only one benzo[k]fluoranthene unit have been prepared and studied. The strongly fluorescent clips 1 form stable complexes with electron-acceptor guests because of a highly negative electrostatic potential on the inner van der Waals surface of their cavity. The complexation constants in chloroform solution for a variety of guests, determined by NMR and fluorescence titration, are much larger than those of the corresponding anthracene and naphthalene clips (4 and 5), particularly in the case of extended aromatic guests. The effect of the substituents in the para position of the benzene spacer unit of clips 1 is discussed on the basis of the host-guest complex structures obtained by X-ray analysis and molecular mechanics simulations. In the case of 9-dicyanomethylene-2,4,7-trinitrofluorene (TNF) guest, complex formation with clip 1a causes dramatic changes in the photophysical and electrochemical properties: (i) a new charge-transfer band at 600 nm arises, (ii) a very efficient quenching of the strong benzo[k]fluoranthene fluorescence takes place, (iii) shifts of both the first oxidation (clip-centered) and reduction (TNF-centered) potentials are observed, and (iv) reversible disassembling of the complex can be obtained by electrochemical stimulation.

The tetramethylene-bridged molecular tweezers bearing lithium methanephosphonate or dilithium phosphate substituents in the central benzene or naphthalene spacer-unit and the dimethylene-bridged clips containing naphthalene or anthracene sidewalls substituted by lithium methanephosphonate, dilithium phosphate, or sodium sulfate groups in the central benzene spacer-unit are water-soluble. The molecular clips having planar naphthalene sidewalls bind flat aromatic guest molecules preferentially, for example, the nicotinamide ring and/or the adenine-unit in the nucleotides NAD(P) + , NMN, or AMP, whereas the benzene-spaced molecular tweezers with their bent sidewalls form stable host-guest complexes with the aliphatic side chains of basic amino acids such as lysine and argenine. The phosphonate-substituted tweezer and the clips having an extended central naphthalene spacer-unit or extended anthracene and benzo[k]fluoranthene sidewalls, respectively, form highly stable self-assembled dimers in aqueous solution, evidently due to non-classical hydrophobic interactions. The phosphate-substituted molecular clip containing naphthalene sidewalls inhibits the enzymatic, ADH-catalyzed ethanol oxidation by binding the cofactor NAD + in a competitive reaction. Surprisingly, tweezer-bearing phosphate substituents in the central benzene spacer-unit are more efficient inhibitors for the ethanol oxidation than the correspondingly substituted naphthalene clip, even though the tweezer does not bind the cofactor NAD + within the limits of detection. The phosphate-substituted naphthalene clip is, however, a highly efficient inhibitor of the enzymatic oxidation of glucose-6-phosphate (G6P) with NADP + catalyzed by glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), whereas the phosphonate-substituted clip only functions as an inhibitor by forming a complex with the cofactor. Detailed kinetic, thermodynamic, and computational modeling studies provide insight into the mechanism of these novel enzyme inhibition reactions.

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The synthesis, separation, and characterization of some substituted stereoisomeric dimethylene‐bridged molecular clips bearing donor or acceptor groups at the tips of the naphthalene sidewalls and two acetoxy, hydroxy, or methoxy groups at the central benzene spacer unit are reported. The host–guest complex formation was studied for these substituted molecular clips as host molecules with 1,2,4,5‐tetracyanobenzene (TCNB), N‐methyl‐p‐(methoxycarbonyl)pyridinium iodide (Kosower's salt, KS), and N‐methylnicotinamideiodide (NMNA) as guest molecules. The binding constants, Ka, and the complexation‐induced 1H NMR shifts of the guest signals, Δδmax, obtained by NMR titration experiments, are compared with those reported for the parent diacetoxybenzene, hydroquinone, or dimethoxybenzene clips. The diacetoxybenzene clip, bearing donor pyrrolidinyl groups at the tips of both naphthalene sidewalls, forms the most stable complexes with TCNB and KS, overwhelming the corresponding complexes of the parent clip and the clips bearing one nitro or methoxycarbonyl group at the tip of one naphthalene sidewall. The clips bearing two acceptor groups (two nitro or methoxycarbonyl groups) at the tips of both naphthalene sidewalls do not form any complex with TCNB, KS, or NMNA within the limits of NMR detection. The large complexation‐induced 1H NMR shifts of the guest signals provide good evidence that in each complex the guest molecule is clipped between the naphthalene sidewalls of the host molecule by attractive aromatic π–π and CH–π interactions, as suggested by force‐field calculations. This structural assignment of the complexes is further confirmed by a single‐crystal structure of the KS complex of the mono‐nitro‐substituted clip, which resembles the complex structure of the parent clip with KS. The good correlation between the clip's electrostatic potential surface (EPS; calculated by DFT for the donor‐ or acceptor‐substituted molecular clips) and the host–guest complex stability confirms the assumption that in chloroform solution the host–guest binding (resulting from attractive aromatic π–π and CH–π interactions) is largely electrostatic in nature, whereas the EPS values do not correlate with the binding constants found in methanol solution, indicating that additional binding forces (resulting for example from solvophobic effects) contribute to the host–guest binding. The separated optically active diacetoxybenzene clips substituted by one or two methoxycarbonyl groups at the naphthalene sidewalls are a good starting point for future studies of chiral molecular recognition and organic catalysis.