The reaction of the tosylate 1 of 2-{2-{4-[1-phenyl-1,1-bis(4-tert-butylphenyl)methyl]phenoxy}ethoxy}ethanol with 4,4-bipyridine in CH₃CN under refluxing for 36 h afforded N-{2-{2-{4- [1-phenyl-1,1-bis(4-tert-butylphenyl)methyl]phenoxy}ethoxy}ethyl}-4,4-bipyridinium tosylate (2), and 2 exchanged anion with NH₄PF₆ to give hexafluoro-phosphate 3 in 93.4%. The compound reacted with 4,4'-di(bromo methyl)-2,2'-bipyridine to give the dumbbell-shaped compound 5 in 45% yield. The molecular shut-tles 6 and 7 were synthesized by the self assembly of the dumbbell-shaped compound 5 and bisparaphenylene-34-crown-10. The ¹H NMR data indicated that noncovalent interaction between the bipyridinium and crown ether provoked a considerable high-field shift.

Key words: synthesis, #NAME?, crown ether, self assembly, molecular shuttle, 2,2