In2Q2: A New Entry of 16‐Membered Tetraazamacrocycle Concatenating Indole and Quinoline Units

A new family of 16‐membered macrocycles comprising two indole (In) and two quinoline (Q) units, coined In2Q2, was synthesized. Each unit is diagonally located and concatenated in a head‐to‐tail fashion, furnishing a non‐flat saddle‐shaped architecture with C 2 symmetry. The synthetic protocol utilizing macrocyclic diamide as a pivotal precursor allowed us to access a series of In2Q2 derivatives bearing various substituents on the periphery. The In2Q2 derivatives and their Zn 2+ complexes were emissive in both solution phase and solid state. While the entire architecture of In2Q2 is similar to that of quinoline tetramer TEtraQuinoline, a couple of contrasting physicochemical properties were revealed.