Quantum simulation on donor and acceptor II calix[4]arene substrate and alkali metal ions: the driven inclusion

Abstract

The energetic and structural optimized of a calix[4]arene with and without alkali-metal cations are presented with performance of various quantum chemical methods such as Hartree--Fock, second order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory, and density functional theory. The geometry optimizations have been carried out with the 3-21G (Li⁺--Cs⁺) and 3-21G(d,p) (Li⁺--K⁺) and the 3-21G basis sets for Cs⁺ and Rb⁺. Additional single-point energy ab initio calculations for Li⁺–K⁺ were carried out at HF/6--31G, HF/6-31G (d,p), HF/6--311G(d,p) for complexes of Li⁺ and Na⁺. The calculations were carried out to analyze the complexation of calix[4]arene with alkali metal cationic species (Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺, and Cs⁺). Assumption to isolate the effects of the aromatic core and cation-π interactions. Particular emphasis has been on conformational binding selectivity and the structural characterization of the complexes, the smaller cation as Li⁺ and Na⁺ has been placed in the lower rim's of the calix[4]arene's cavity. The large cations like K⁺, Rb⁺, and Cs⁺ take placed in upper rim and the endo (inclusive) complexation is driven by cation-π interactions, that reflect a superior interaction with two phenol rings. The endo complexation of Cs⁺ with calix[4]arene is in agreement with X-ray diffraction data. The binding modes of calixarene-cation systems are studied to involve cooperative effects between cation-π and electrostatic forces.

Keywords:

• Bonding
• Aqueous environments
• Molecular recognition