Fluorous nanodroplets structurally confined in an organopalladium sphere

FLUO 1

Makoto Fujita, mfujita@appchem.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp, Department of Applied Chemistry, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan
The distinct properties of fluorous phases are practically useful for separation, purification, and reaction control in organic synthesis. Here, we report the formation of a liquid-like fluorous droplet, comprised of 24 perfluoroalkyl chains, confined in the interior of a 5 nanometer-sized, roughly spherical shell that spontaneously assembles in solution from 12 palladium ions and 24 bridging ligands. Crystallographic analysis confirms the rigid shell framework and amorphous interior. Perfluoroalkanes can dissolve in this well-defined fluorous phase, whereas they can hardly dissolve in a surrounding polar organic solution, and their solubility (up to ~8 perfluoroalkane molecules per spherical complex) can be finely controlled by tuning the length of perfluoroalkyl chains tethered to the shell.