TY - JOUR A1 - Grabicki, N. A1 - Nguyen, K. T. G. A1 - Weidner, Steffen A1 - Dumele, O. T1 - Confined Spaces in [n]Cyclo-2,7-pyrenylenes N2 - A set of strained aromatic macrocycles based on [n]cyclo2,7-(4,5,9,10-tetrahydro)pyrenylenes is presented with size dependent photophysical properties. The K-region of pyrene was functionalized with ethylene glycol groups to decorate the outer rim and thereby confine the space inside the macrocycle. This confined space is especially pronounced for n = 5, which leads to an internal binding of up to 8.0×104 M–1 between the ether-decorated [5]cyclo-2,7-pyrenylene and shape complementary crown ether–cation complexes. Both, the ether-decorated [n]cyclo-pyrenylenes as well as one of their host–guest complexes have been structurally characterized by single crystal X-ray analysis. In combination with computational methods the structural and thermodynamic reasons for the exceptionally strong binding have been elucidated. The presented rim confinement strategy makes cycloparaphenylenes an attractive supramolecular host family with a favorable, size-independent read-out signature and binding capabilities extending beyond fullerene guests. KW - Cycloparaphenylenes KW - Host–guest systems KW - Macrocycles KW - Molecular recognition KW - Supramolecular chemistry PY - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202102809 SN - 1433-7851 VL - 60 IS - 27 SP - 1 EP - 7 PB - Wiley VCH AN - OPUS4-52517 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -