Mechanism of host-guest complex formation and identification of intermediates through NMR titration and diffusion NMR spectroscopy.

The formation of host-guest (H-G) complexes between 1,8-bis[(diethylgallanyl)ethynyl]anthracene (H) and the N-heterocycles pyridine and pyrimidine (G) was studied in solution using a combination of NMR titration and diffusion NMR experiments. For the latter, diffusion coefficients of potential host-guest structures in solution were compared with those of tailor-made reference compounds of similar shape (synthesized and characterized by NMR, HRMS, and in part XRD). Highly dynamic behavior was observed in both cases, but with different host-guest species and equilibria. With increasing concentrations of the pyridine guest, the equilibrium H2⇄H2κ(1)-G1⇄HG2 is observed (in the second step a host dimer coordinates one guest molecule); for pyrimidine the equilibrium H2→H1κ(2)-G1⇄HG2 is observed (the formation of a 1:1 aggregate is the second step).