The host–guest complexation
of a bisporphyrin cleft with
various electron-deficient guest molecules was studied in solution
and in the solid-state. X-ray crystal structures of a bisporphyrin
cleft with naphthalene dianhydride and 2,4,7-trinitrofluorenone reveal
that these guest molecules were located within the bisporphyrin cleft
and formed ideal π–π stacking interactions in a
host–guest ratio of 1:1. Isothermal titration calorimetry determined
the binding constants and thermodynamic parameters for the 1:1 host–guest
complexations in 1,2-dichloroethane and toluene. Two types of enthalpy–entropy
compensation effects were found: (1) The tightly stacked host–guest
structures restrict guest movement within the cleft, which results
in significant desolvation with large intrinsic entropies. (2) The
loosely bound guests maintain their molecular freedom within the bisporphyrin
cleft, which leads to less desolvation with small intrinsic entropies.
Chiral guest encapsulation directed the clockwise and anticlockwise
twisted conformations of the bisporphyrin units, which induced bisignate
CDs.