Complexes of resorcin[4]arene with secondary amines: synthesis, solvent influence on “in-out” structure, and theoretical calculations of non-covalent interactions

Resorcin[4]arenes (R[4]A) are macrocyclic compounds with a cavity structure. Despite a relatively small cavity, these compounds are capable of forming complexes with small organic molecules. The current paper focuses on the synthesis of complexes between R[4]A and secondary aliphatic amines (sec-amines). Through NMR spectroscopy, it was observed that “in-out” complexes are formed depending on the solvent. It was also found that the stoichiometry of the formed complexes depends on the size of the amine molecule. The automated interaction sites screening (aISS) made it possible to generate molecular ensembles of complexes. The geometry of the ensembles was first optimized with the r2scan-3c functional and, finally, the structure with the lowest energy, with the functional PBE0-D4/mTZVPP/CPCM. The Hartree–Fock plus London dispersion (HFLD) method was used for the study of non-covalent interactions (NCI). The calculations lead to the conclusion that a reduction in electrostatic interactions and an increase in exchange and dispersion interactions in CHCl(3) in relation to DMSO are the driving forces behind the placement of sec-amine molecules into the R[4]A cavity and the formation of “in” type complexes.