Facile self-assembly of neutral dendritic metallocycles via oxygen-to-platinum coordination.

A new approach for the fabrication of neutral dendritic metallocycles is described. By combining rigid 120 degrees dicarboxylate donor linkers funtionalized with [G0]-[G3] Frechet-type dendrons and complementary rigid 60 degrees and 120 degrees di-Pt(II) acceptor subunits, neutral rhomboidal metallodendrimers and hexagonal metallodendrimers, respectively, were prepared under mild conditions in high yields. The assemblies have well-defined shapes and sizes and were characterized by multinuclear NMR ((1)H and (31)P), mass spectrometry (ESI (+)-TOF-MS and APPI(+)-TOF-MS), and elemental analysis. Isotopically resolved mass spectrometry data support the formation of the neutral [2 + 2] rhomboidal, and [3 + 3] hexagonal metallodendrimers, and NMR data are consistent with the formation of all ensembles. The structures of the [G0] and [G1] neutral rhomboidal metallodendrimers (3a and 3b) were unambiguously confirmed via single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The shape and size of [G3] neutral hexagonal metallodendrimer 5d was established with MMFF force-field simulations.