Threading of three rings on two stations: a convergent approach to [4]rotaxane

• Published in: Chemical communications (Cambridge, England) Vol. 57; no. 99; pp. 1356 - 1359
• Main Authors: Zhou, Yidan, Wu, Jinyang, Liu, Zejiang, Xu, Weitao, Liu, Menglong, Jia, Along, Liu, Yuchen, Xiao, Xin, Li, Xiaowei, Yuan, Lihua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 14.12.2021
• Subjects: Chemical synthesis; Crystal structure; Forging; Rotaxanes; Single crystals; Supramolecular compounds
• ISSN: 1359-7345; 1364-548X
• DOI: 10.1039/d1cc05501a

A novel approach to efficient and selective construction of [4]rotaxane was proposed to demonstrate the superiority of H-bonded azo-macrocycles in forging higher order rotaxanes. The single crystal structure reveals the importance of the interplay of multiple non-covalent bonding interactions, particularly π-stacking interactions, in stabilizing the host-guest complex. This may open an avenue to the synthesis of oligomeric mechanically interlocked molecules containing fewer stations but more rings. A novel approach to efficient and selective synthesis of [4]rotaxane with two stations was proposed to demonstrate the superiority of H-bonded azo-macrocycles in forging higher order rotaxanes.