Electrochemical properties of 3,5-diphenylaniline units encapsulated within a crown ether. Effects of the macrocycle’s aromatic functionality and ring size
component and crownethers as the macrocyclic component, prepared through imine formation and hydrogen bond—guided self-assembly. Electrochemical studies of these [2]rotaxanes revealed that the oxidation potential of the aniline moiety when positioned within the cavity of a crownether was shifted negatively relative to that of the corresponding dumbbell-shaped compound, and that a crownether possessing
pseudorotaxane. Integration of pertinent signals allowed the associationconstants of pseudorotaxanes to be determined readily. Among the [22-30]crown ethers, the highest value of the associationconstant was that for the [24]crown ether/dibenzylammonium ion system; the [25-30]crown ether/ammonium ion systems exhibited moderate values of their associationconstants [K exp = 35-114 M -1 when using (ArCH 2 ) 2 NH