A copper-complexed rotaxane in motion: pirouetting of the ring on the millisecond timescale.

A new bistable rotaxane, consisting of a 2,2'-bipyridine-containing thread and a ring incorporating both a bidentate chelate and a tridentate fragment, has been prepared; this complex undergoes an electrochemically driven pirouetting motion of the ring around the axis which takes place on the millisecond timescale, i.e. several orders of magnitude faster than the other copper-based machines previously described.

A [2]catenane constructed around a rhodium(III) center used as a template.

Rhodium(III) has been used as a templating metal center for building a [2]catenane. In the first stage, a Rh(phen)(2) motif has been incorporated into a large ring. Subsequently, a 2,2'-bipyridine derivative has been threaded through the ring, this process being driven by coordination of the chelate to the Rh(III) center. The formation of the second ring has been performed using the ring-closing metathesis approach. Contrary to the other catenanes synthesized around transition metals, the second ring is formed at the rear of the coordination unit which it contains, by cyclizing two flexible end-functionalized fragments attached at the 4 and 4' positions of the 2,2'-bipyridine chelate.

Synthesis of a copper [3]rotaxane able to function as an electrochemically driven oscillatory machine in solution, and to form SAMs on a metal surface.

Two new copper [3]rotaxanes have been synthesized. The axes are identical for both compounds and incorporate two bidentate chelates joined together by a disulfide bridge. The rings contain either the single phen (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline) chelate or two different chelates (phen and terpy; terpy = 2,2',6',2' '-terpyridine, a tridentate chelate). The key intermediates for both synthetic routes are semi-rotaxanes obtained in high yields using the three-dimensional effect of copper(I). In the case where the wheels are heterobischelating macrocycles, large molecular motions, namely rotation or oscillation of the wheels around the axle, have been induced electrochemically. Anchoring of these two copper [3]rotaxanes on a gold electrode was carried out by standard procedures. Cleavage of the disulfide bridge and formation of monolayers of rotaxanes were evidenced by cyclic voltammetry. The adsorbed rotaxanes can be viewed as copper [2]rotaxanes for which the gold electrode surface acts as a stopper linked to one end of their axes.

Synthesis of a [2]catenane around a Ru(diimine)3(2+) scaffold by ring-closing metathesis of olefins.

[reaction: see text] The synthesis of a ruthenium[2]catenane is described. One ring includes two 1,10-phenanthroline moieties, the other a bipyridinic unit. The interlocking ring system was formed by using a double ring closing metathesis reaction. Under irradiation, a rapid and selective decoordination of the bipyridinic fragment was observed, leading to a new catenane in which the metal is only coordinated to the bis-phenanthroline moiety.

Zinc(II)-templated synthesis of a [2]-catenane consisting of a 2,2',6',2' '-terpyridine-incorporating cycle and a 1,10-phenanthroline-containing ring.

A nonsymmetrical [2]-catenane has been synthesized, with a 5-coordinated metal center (Zn(2+)) as template. One of the two rings contains a terdentate ligand (2,2',6',2' '-terpyridine) and the other one incorporates a bidentate chelate (1,10-phenanthroline). The first ring was prepared separately and, subsequently, Zn(2+) was used as the gathering and threading element to pass the stringlike component through the ring. This open-chain species bears two terminal olefins, which were reacted with Grubbs first-generation catalyst (ring-closing metathesis) to afford the desired catenane. Hydrogenation of the double bond and removal of the zinc(II) template afforded the final free [2]-catenane in 40% yield from the terdentate ligand-containing cycle and the diolefinic compound. Complexation studies on this new pentacoordinating catenane were carried out with Fe(II) or Cu(II). The most interesting observation is that the 5-coordinated complexes obtained are strongly stabilized. Their electrochemical reduction occurs at negative potentials.

A [2]catenane constructed around a Ru(diimine)(3)(2+) complex used as a template.

A [2]catenane has been constructed using an octahedral complex of the Ru(diimine)( 2+)(3) family as a scaffold. Two diimine chelates have been incorporated in a ring prior to the ruthenium(II) complexation reaction. The macrocyclic complex thus obtained has been subsequently threaded by a long linear fragment containing the third chelate. The rutheniuml(II)-complexed catenane, cyclized by ring-closing metathesis, is the first example of an interlocking ring system built around an octahedral tris-chelate complex.

Disulfide- and thiol-incorporating copper catenanes: synthesis, deposition onto gold, and surface studies.

Two new copper-complexed [2]catenanes have been prepared, both of which consist of two different interlocking rings. In both cases, one of the rings incorporates a disulfide bridge. The other ring contains either a single chelate (phen=1,10-phenanthroline, a bidentate ligand) or two different chelates (phen and terpy, 2,2',6',2"-terpyridine, a tridentate chelate). Deposition of these two complexes on a gold electrode surface was carried out by standard procedures, leading to reductive cleavage of the S-S bridge. The adsorbed species can be viewed as [2]catenanes for which the gold atoms of the electrode surface are an integral fragment of one of the two rings. They yield clear electrochemical responses, but no motion is observed for the catenane incorporating a phen unit and a terpy fragment in one of the two rings, regardless of the metal oxidation state. This is at odds with the behavior of the parent compound in solution, which undergoes ring-gliding motions upon electrochemical reduction or oxidation of the copper center. Near-field microscopy was used to study the deposited layers (STM and AFM). STM images suggest that the molecules do not tend to order at long range on the surface. Polarization modulation-infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) led to promising results: the two catenanes deposited are likely to be oriented perpendicular to the gold surface. Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW under http://www.wiley-vch.de/contents/jc_2111/2002/f3636_s.pdf or from the author. 1: Infrared spectra of [Cu.2]+ as a powder (black line, transmission IR spectroscopy) and as a SAM on gold (dotted line, PM-IRRAS). (Spectra offset and scaled for clarity; significant peaks marked with an asterisk.) 2: STM image (819x819 nm2) of a monolayer of [Cu.3]+ on Au(111) on mica.