Bulky metallocavitands with a chiral cavity constructed by aluminum and magnesium atrane-likes: enantioselective recognition and separation of racemic alcohols.

Seven new type metallocavitand complexes 1–7 were synthesized via the self-assembly of aluminum and magnesium atrane-likes. The recognition of R-2-butanol from racemic 2-butanol can be achieved in the chiral cavity of metallocavitand complex 5. The crystal structure of complex 5 showed that the enantioselectivity of the center cavity for the inclusion of two 2-butanol molecules is higher than that of the groups at the outer rim, which indicates that the size-limited cavity is more sensitive to the chirality of 2-butanol. Furthermore, desorption of R-2-butanol is successful through vacuumization which afforded complex 6 and gives R-2-butanol with an enantiomeric excess (ee) value of 53(±1)%. The reaction of enantiopure H3L2, MgnBu2, and racemic 1-phenylethanol afforded complex 7. The structure of complex 7 showed that the center cavity was occupied by three H2O molecules and one molecular R-1-phenylethanol suspended in the outer rim of the metallocavitand via a hydrogen bond, which indicated that 1-phenylethanol is too bulky for the size-limited cavity. Because a certain amount of racemic 1-phenylethanol is also co-crystallized in the unit cell, the final separated 1-phenylethanol has an ee value of 33(±1)%. The host–guest mechanism for the separation is clearly determined through X-ray crystal structural analysis.