Clathrochelates meet phosphorus. New thio- and phosphorylation reactions of an iron(II) dichloroclathrochelate precursor and preparation of its first phosphorus(III)-containing macrobicyclic derivative.

Phosphorylation reactions of an iron(II) dichloroclathrochelate FeBd2(Cl2Gm)(BF)2 (where Bd(2-) and Cl2Gm(2-) are α-benzildioxime and dichloroglyoxime dianions, respectively) with diphenylphosphine oxide and diethyl thiophosphite were performed under phase-transfer conditions. In the case of diethyl thiophosphite as a P-nucleophile, the best yields were obtained in the dichloromethane-50% NaOH aqueous solution-5 mol% triethylbenzylammonium chloride (TEBAC) system. The use of different molar ratios of a macrobicycle precursor and this thiophosphorylating agent allowed us to obtain both the mono- and the diphosphorylated cage complexes. Nucleophilic substitution with diphenylphosphine oxide was performed in the K2CO3-acetonitrile-5 mol% TEBAC system, giving only the corresponding monophosphorylated iron(II) complex in high yield even in the presence of an excess of this P-nucleophile. The phosphorus(v)-containing clathrochelate product was reduced with an excess of silicoform to give an iron(II) macrobicycle with an inherent diphenylphosphine group in an almost quantitative yield, which was then characterized by (31)P{(1)H} NMR and single-crystal X-ray diffraction; it easily undergoes re-oxidation to the initial clathrochelate. The synthesized phosphorus(v)-containing cage complexes were characterized using elemental analysis, MALDI-TOF mass, IR, UV-Vis, (1)H, (11)B, (13)C{(1)H}, (19)F{(1)H} and (31)P{(1)H} NMR spectra, and by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.