MACROCYCLIC AROMATIC THIOETHER SULFONES

Reaction of 4,4'-sulfonylbis(thiophenol) with 4,4'-dichlorodiphenyl su lfone under pseudo-high-dilution conditions leads to a novel family of all-para macrocyclic thioether sulfones [-S phi SO2 phi-](n) (phi = 1 ,4-phenylene); these include a highly strained [1 + 1] cyclodimer (n = 2), a cyclotrimer resulting from thioether exchange reactions, and a [2 + 2] cyclotetramer which can adopt two distinctly different conform ations, one having molecular D-2d ('tennis-ball-seam') symmetry, in th e crystalline state.