The two tert-butyl groups of anti-6,15-di-tert-butyl-9,18-dimethoxy[3.3]metacyclophane (anti-4) are both ipso-nitrated even under mild reaction conditions such as copper(II) nitrate in an acetic anhydride solution because of the decreased deactivation of the second aromatic ring by the introduced nitro group. On the other hand, anti-5,13-di-tert-butyl-8,16-dimethoxy[2.2]metacyclophane (anti-1) undergoes replacement of only one tert-butyl group under the same reaction conditions. The higher yields of the twofold ipso-nitration product anti-7 were obtained in nitration of anti-4 with fuming nitric acid or mixed acid (HNO3H2SO4). Thus, the number of ipso-nitrations at the tert-butyl groups of anti-4 was strongly affected by the reactivity of the nitration reagent. Nitration of the corresponding syn-conformer syn-4 with copper(II) nitrate in an acetic anhydride solution, however, led only to the recovery of the starting compound. The presently developed procedure was further applied to the direct removal of the tert-butyl group by electrophilic substitution of the larger-sized ring macrocyclic metacyclophanes, cone- and partial-cone-tri-tert-butyl[3.3.3]metacyclophanes 11.Key words: [3n]metacyclophanes, conformation, ipso-nitration, through-space electronic interaction, crystal structure.
