Self-assembly of fourteen components into a soluble, neutral, metalloprismatic cage

A novel one-pot synthesis of rhenium-based triangular prismatic cages has b een accomplished in excellent yields by a self-assembly strategy. Reaction of Re-2(CO)(10) with 2,4,6-tri-4-pyridyl-1,3,5-triazine (tpt) in the presen ce of an aliphatic alcohol (1-butanol, 1-octanol or 1-dodecanol) afforded m olecular prisms, [{(CO)(3)Re(mu (2)-OR)(2)Re(CO)(3)}(3)(mu (3)-tpt)(2)1] (1 , R = C4H9; 2, R = C8H17; 3, R = C12H25) by solvothermal methods, Fine tuni ng of the solubility is achieved by tailoring the length of the alkyl chain of the alcohol. Compounds 1-3 reported here are the first Re-containing mo lecular prisms of the M6L2L'(6) type. In addition, they are the first neutr al, prismatic cages without counterions that are highly air and moisture st able. Compounds 2 and 3 are soluble in most common organic solvents and the y exhibit a large solvatochromism: the value of lambda (ab)(max) could be t uned over 125 nm simply by changing the polarity of the solvent.