Large Polyazacycloalkanes and Small Macrocyclic Cages

Abstract

Synthetic macrocyclic compounds have attracted much interest among chemists. Many hundreds of publications, including numerous books,¹ have been published in this active field during the last few years. The current interest stems from different points of view, including selective ion recognition, transport processes, reaction catalysis, industrial applications, model systems and others.^1-5 The driving force which moves all of these interests is the challenge of the design and synthesis of new macrocyclic compounds with new chemical properties.