1,3-Bis(6-bromohexyloxy)benzene, 2,7-bis(6-bromohexyloxy)naphthalene, 1,3-bis(4-bromomethylbenzyloxy)benzene, and 1,3-bis(3-bromomethylbenzyloxy)benzene were prepared via Williamson ether synthesis using resorcinol or 2,7-dihydroxynaphthalene and 1,6-dibromohexane, 1,4-bis(bromomethyl)benzene, or 1,3-bis(bromomethyl)benzene (21–47 % yield). These dibromides were condensed with 2,9-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1,10-phenanthroline in the presence of K2CO3 to give the corresponding 31- to 35-membered macrocycles (3a–d, 22–63 % yield). When 3a–d were treated with CuI, mononuclear 1 : 1 complexes formed, in which the CuI chelates to the nitrogen donor atoms of the phenanthroline moiety (4a–d, 40–80 % yield). The crystal structures of 3a–c and 4a–c were determined and analyzed using density functional theory calculations and in the context of rotaxanes that could be formed by treatment of 4a–d with terminal alkynes (e.g. macrocycle dimensions, void volumes). The copper and iodide atoms in 4a–c significantly protrude from the least-squares plane of the phenanthroline moiety (0.46–0.63 Å and 1.65–2.07 Å).
Computational study of the mechanism and selectivity of ruthenium-catalyzed hydroamidations of terminal alkynes