Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.123, No.39, 9634-9641, 2001
Self-assembly with postmodification: Kinetically stabilized metalla-supramolecular rectangles
Interaction of a predesigned molecular "clip" (4) with rigid dipyridyl bridging ligands, in acetone/ water mixtures, leads to the formation of molecular rectangles (5-8) in 92-97% isolated yields via spontaneous self-assembly. Characterization was accomplished with multinuclear NMR and UV-vis spectroscopy, FAB mass spectrometry, and X-ray crystallography. The length of these metallamacrocycles ranges from 2 to 3 nm. Postmodification via non-nucleophilic counterion exchange results in enhanced structural integrity for the assemblies.