Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry Blog

Chemists from University of Cambridge, UK, have constructed a new class of multicomponent [2] and [3]catenanes utilizing up to four building blocks and three orthogonal interactions.

A major challenge in supramolecular chemistry is being able to harness several orthogonal weak interactions to generate structures with a similar complexity and functionality to those found in nature. This is because, as the variety of the building blocks and noncovalent interactions involved, control over the final structure becomes exponentially more difficult.

In this HOT Communication Miguel Á. Alemán García and Nick Bampos report a one-pot synthesis which uses multiple supramolecular components with distinctly different sets of noncovalent interactions to construct heteroleptic interlocked supramolecular metallomacrocycles.

This Communication is free to access for the next 4 weeks!

Synthesis of a four-component [3]catenane using three distinct noncovalent interactions
Miguel Á. Alemán García and Nick Bampos
DOI: 10.1039/C2OB26587G