New entry to tetranuclear clusters with tetrathiol ligands anchored to hydrophobic macrocycles in iron–sulphur protein analogues; Fe4S4{cyclo-(XN[CH2]8)4}2– and Fe4S4{cyclo-(XN[CH2]8NX–p-C6H4–p-CH2C6H4)2}2–(X =p-SC6H4CO)

Abstract

Efficient synthetic routes to novel tetrathiol compounds attached to a 36- or a 38-membered ring consisting of a methylene backbone or a cyclophane type macrocycle have been developed which involve a double condensation as the key reaction; a new class of synthetic 4Fe–4S analogues of iron–sulphur proteins could be introduced using these hydrophobic SH ligands.