Catenation of Chiral Cubes

Key words

catenanes - chiral cubes - catenated cubes - imine condensation

Significance

Catenanes are at the forefront of research efforts for fabricating molecular machines and intelligent materials. Among the various synthetic tactics developed, aromatic stacking interactions represents the most widely used operating driving force for assembling. Here, the authors report a distinct approach to both monomeric and catenated cages, which are directed by weak dispersion interactions and solvophobic effects.

Comment

Taking 1,4-disubstituted terephthalaldehydes as edges and chiral triamino-tribenzo­triquinacenes as vertices, a series of giant [8+12] cubes are successfully obtained via imine condensations. Systematic investigations further indicate that the catenation processes are mainly promoted by dispersion forces among the substituents, such as methoxy and methylthio on terephthalaldehydes, rather than the π–π stacking interactions.

Publication History

Article published online:
17 March 2023