A New Octanuclear Copper(II)−Nucleoside Wheel

The reaction of Cu(CF 3 SO 3 ) 2 and cytidine in aqueous solution leads to the first example of a polynuclear copper(II)−cytidine complex of formula [Cu(H 2 O) 6 ][Cu 8 (Hcyd) 8 (CF 3 SO 3 ) 4 ](CF 3 SO 3 ) 6 ·12H 2 O (H 2 cyd = cytidine). It shows a fascinating calixarene-like structure made up of octanuclear [Cu 8 (Hcyd) 8 (CF 3 SO 3 ) 4 ] 4+ wheel-shaped moieties that show receptor properties through multiple H-bonding interactions toward [Cu(H 2 O) 6 ] 2+ cations occupying the centers of the wheel.