Conversion of 12-membered D₃- and L₃-Co^III₃Cd^II₃ metallorings into a 24-membered D₃L₃-Co^III₆Cd^II₆ metalloring

The treatment of [Co(D- or L-ebp)]⁻ with CdX₂ (X = Br⁻, I⁻) gave a cyclic Co^III₃Cd^II₃ complex with a 12-membered metalloring, [Cd₃X₃{Co(D- or L-ebp)}₃] (D₃- or L₃-1_X). The use of a 1 : 1 mixture of [Co(D-ebp)]⁻ and [Co(L-ebp)]⁻, instead of [Co(D- or L-ebp)]⁻, led to the creation of a cyclic Co^III₆Cd^II₆ complex with a 24-membered metalloring, [Cd₆X₆(H₂O)₆{Co(D-ebp)}₃{Co(L-ebp)}₃] (D₃L₃-2_X). Compounds D₃L₃-2_X were also produced when D₃-1_X and L₃-1_X were mixed in water in a 1 : 1 ratio, illustrating the conversion of a pair of homochiral metallorings into a double-sized heterochiral metalloring.