Triptycene-Derived N(H)-Bridged Azacalixarenes: Synthesis, Structure, and Encapsulation of Small Neutral Molecules in the Solid State

Four pairs of novel N(H)-bridged azacalixarenes derived from triptycene were synthesized by both one-pot and two-step fragment-coupling approaches. Due to the unique 3D rigid structure of triptycene, the macrocycles all adopted fixed conformations in both solution and solid state. X-ray crystallographic analyses also revealed that the cis isomers with boat conformations showed the capability of encapsulating methanol and acetone molecules inside.