Selective Endo and Exo Binding of Mono- and Ditopic Ligands to a Rhomboidal Diporphyrin Prism

Copper(I) can preferentially form heteroleptic complexes containing two phosphine and two nitrogen donors due to steric factors. This preference was employed to direct the self‐assembly of a porphyrin‐faced rhomboidal prism having two parallel tetrakis(4‐iminopyridyl)porphyrinatozinc(II) faces linked by eight 1,4‐bis(diphenylphosphino)benzene pillars. The coordination preferences of the CuI ions and geometries of the ligands come together to generate a slipped‐cofacial orientation of the porphyrinatozinc(II) faces. This orientation enables selective encapsulation of 3,3′‐bipyridine (bipy), which bridges the ZnII ions of the parallel porphyrins, whereas 4,4′‐bipy exhibits weaker external coordination to the porphyrin faces. Reaction with 2,2′‐bipy, by contrast, results in the displacement of the tetratopic porphyrin ligand and formation of [{(2,2′‐bipy)CuI}2(diphosphine)2]. The differing strengths of interactions of bipyridine isomers with the system allows for a hierarchy to be deciphered, whereby 4,4′‐bipy may be displaced by 3,3′‐bipy, which in turn is displaced by 2,2′‐bipy. In or out: A slipped‐cofacial rhomboidal diporphyrin prism was synthesized using mixed tetratopic iminopyridyl and ditopic phosphine ligands. This receptor exhibits selective endo and exo binding properties to the positional isomers of bipyridine (2,2′, 3,3′, and 4,4′) and quinuclidine. The differences in binding nature and strength between different ligands have enabled network transformations to be demonstrated.