A Covalent and Modular Synthesis of Homo- and Hetero[n]rotaxanes

Incorporation of 2,5-dihydroxyterephthalate as a covalent scaffold in the axis of a 30-membered all-carbon macrocycle provides access to a modular series of rotaxanes. Installment of tethered alkynes or azides onto the terephthalic phenolic hydroxyl functionalities, which are situated at opposite sides of the macrocycle, gives versatile prerotaxane building blocks. The corresponding [2]rotaxanes are obtained by introduction of bulky stoppering (“capping”) units at the tethers and subsequent cleavage of the covalent ring/thread ester linkages. Extension of this strategy via coupling of two prerotaxanes bearing complementary linker functionalities (i.e., azide and alkyne) and follow-up attachment of stopper groups provide efficient access to [n]rotaxanes. The applicability and modular nature of this novel approach were demonstrated by the synthesis of a series of [2]-, [3]-, and [4]rotaxanes. Furthermore, it is shown that the prerotaxanes allow late-stage functionalization of the ring fragment introducing further structural diversity.