Amar H. Flood

Click chemistry generates privileged CH hydrogen-bonding triazoles: the latest addition to anion supramolecular chemistry

The supramolecular chemistry of anions provides a means to sense and manipulate anions in their many chemical and biological roles. For this purpose, Click chemistry facilitated the synthetic creation of new receptors and thus, an opportunity to aid in the recent re-examination of CH...anion hydrogen bonding. This tutorial review will focus on the privileged C-H hydrogen bond donor of the 1,2,3-triazole ring systems as elucidated from anion-binding studies with macrocyclic triazolophanes and other receptors. Triazolophanes are shape-persistent and planar macrocycles that direct four triazole and four phenylene CH groups into a 3.7 A cavity. They display strong (log K(Cl(-)) = 7), size-dependent halide binding (Cl(-) > Br(-) >> F(-) >> I(-)) and a rich set of binding equilibria. For instance, the too large iodide (4.4 A) can be sandwiched between two pyridyl-based triazolophanes with extreme positive cooperativity. Computational studies verify the triazoles hydrogen bond strength indicating it approaches the traditional NH donors from pyrrole. These examples, those of transport, sensing (e.g., ion-selective electrodes), templation, and versatile synthesis herald the use of triazoles in anion-receptor chemistry.

Autonomous artificial nanomotor powered by sunlight

Light excitation powers the reversible shuttling movement of the ring component of a rotaxane between two stations located at a 1.3-nm distance on its dumbbell-shaped component. The photoinduced shuttling movement, which occurs in solution, is based on a “four-stroke” synchronized sequence of electronic and nuclear processes. At room temperature the deactivation time of the high-energy charge-transfer state obtained by light excitation is ≈10 μs, and the time period required for the ring-displacement process is on the order of 100 μs. The rotaxane behaves as an autonomous linear motor and operates with a quantum efficiency up to ≈12%. The investigated system is a unique example of an artificial linear nanomotor because it gathers together the following features: (i) it is powered by visible light (e.g., sunlight); (ii) it exhibits autonomous behavior, like motor proteins; (iii) it does not generate waste products; (iv) its operation can rely only on intramolecular processes, allowing in principle operation at the single-molecule level; (v) it can be driven at a frequency of 1 kHz; (vi) it works in mild environmental conditions (i.e., fluid solution at ambient temperature); and (vii) it is stable for at least 103 cycles.

Strong, Size-Selective, and Electronically Tunable C−H···Halide Binding with Steric Control over Aggregation from Synthetically Modular, Shape-Persistent [34]Triazolophanes

A series of shape-persistent [3(4)]triazolophanes bearing t-butyl or triethylene glycol (OTg) substituents on the phenylene linkers have been prepared in a modular manner from simple building blocks. Triazolophane-halide binding affinities were determined using UV titrations in order to help in understanding the driving forces behind the large receptor-anion binding strengths supported solely by CH hydrogen-bond donors. The fixed size of the central cavity provides a means for selective recognition of Cl(-) and Br(-) anions with large binding strengths (Ka > 1,000,000 M(-1); DeltaG > -8.5 kcal mol(-1)). The smaller F(-) and larger I(-) anions are bound less tightly by approximately 1 and approximately 3 orders of magnitude, respectively. The four triazole-based H-bond donors are believed to be of primary importance, while the four phenylene CH H-bond donors take on a secondary role. Consistent with this idea, the binding affinity can be tuned by as much as 1 kcal mol(-1) by changing the character of the four phenylene-based substituents from more (OTg) to less (t-butyl) electron-donating. Preorganization was also found to play a central role, on the basis of comparisons with a foldamer analogue that shows much-reduced binding. Aggregation was facilitated as the substituents were changed from t-butyl to OTg, increasing the degree of self-association from K(E) approximately = 0 to 230 M(-1) in CD2Cl2. Diffusion NMR experiments established aggregation as opposed to dimerization. These findings indicate the importance of the cavity size for selective anion recognition as well as the role of the phenylene linkers in tuning the binding strengths and modulating the aggregation of the [3(4)]triazolophanes.

High hopes: can molecular electronics realise its potential?

Manipulating and controlling the self-organisation of small collections of molecules, as an alternative to investigating individual molecules, has motivated researchers bent on processing and storing information in molecular electronic devices (MEDs). Although numerous ingenious examples of single-molecule devices have provided fundamental insights into their molecular electronic properties, MEDs incorporating hundreds to thousands of molecules trapped between wires in two-dimensional arrays within crossbar architectures offer a glimmer of hope for molecular memory applications. In this critical review, we focus attention on the collective behaviour of switchable mechanically interlocked molecules (MIMs)--specifically, bistable rotaxanes and catenanes--which exhibit reset lifetimes between their ON and OFF states ranging from seconds in solution to hours in crossbar devices. When these switchable MIMs are introduced into high viscosity polymer matrices, or self-assembled as monolayers onto metal surfaces, both in the form of nanoparticles and flat electrodes, or organised as tightly packed islands of hundreds and thousands of molecules sandwiched between two electrodes, the thermodynamics which characterise their switching remain approximately constant while the kinetics associated with their reset follow an intuitively predictable trend--that is, fast when they are free in solution and sluggish when they are constrained within closely packed monolayers. The importance of seamless interactions and constant feedback between the makers, the measurers and the modellers in establishing the structure-property relationships in these integrated functioning systems cannot be stressed enough as rationalising the many different factors that impact device performance becomes more and more demanding. The choice of electrodes, as well as the self-organised superstructures of the monolayers of switchable MIMs employed in the molecular switch tunnel junctions (MSTJs) associated with the crossbars of these MEDs, have a profound influence on device operation and performance. It is now clear, after much investigation, that a distinction should be drawn between two types of switching that can be elicited from MSTJs. One affords small ON/OFF ratios and is a direct consequence of the switching in bistable MIMs that leads to a relatively small remnant molecular signature--an activated chemical process. The other leads to a very much larger signature and ON/OFF ratios resulting from physical or chemical changes in the electrodes themselves. Control experiments with various compounds, including degenerate catenanes and free dumbbells, which cannot and do not switch, are crucial in establishing the authenticity of the small ON/OFF ratios and remnant molecular signatures produced by bistable MIMs. Moreover, experiments conducted on monolayers in MSTJs of molecules designed to switch and molecules designed not to switch have been probed directly by spectroscopic and other means in support of MEDs that store information through switching collections of bistable MIMs contained in arrays of MSTJs. In the quest for the next generation of MEDs, it is likely that monolayers of bistable MIMs will be replaced by robust crystalline extended structures wherein the switchable components, derived from bistable MIMs, are organised precisely in a periodic manner.

A Mechanical Actuator Driven Electrochemically by Artificial Molecular Muscles

A microcantilever, coated with a monolayer of redox-controllable, bistable [3]rotaxane molecules (artificial molecular muscles), undergoes reversible deflections when subjected to alternating oxidizing and reducing electrochemical potentials. The microcantilever devices were prepared by precoating one surface with a gold film and allowing the palindromic [3]rotaxane molecules to adsorb selectively onto one side of the microcantilevers, utilizing thiol-gold chemistry. An electrochemical cell was employed in the experiments, and deflections were monitored both as a function of (i) the scan rate (< or =20 mV s(-1)) and (ii) the time for potential step experiments at oxidizing (>+0.4 V) and reducing (<+0.2 V) potentials. The different directions and magnitudes of the deflections for the microcantilevers, which were coated with artificial molecular muscles, were compared with (i) data from nominally bare microcantilevers precoated with gold and (ii) those coated with two types of control compounds, namely, dumbbell molecules to simulate the redox activity of the palindromic bistable [3]rotaxane molecules and inactive 1-dodecanethiol molecules. The comparisons demonstrate that the artificial molecular muscles are responsible for the deflections, which can be repeated over many cycles. The microcantilevers deflect in one direction following oxidation and in the opposite direction upon reduction. The approximately 550 nm deflections were calculated to be commensurate with forces per molecule of approximately 650 pN. The thermal relaxation that characterizes the devices deflection is consistent with the double bistability associated with the palindromic [3]rotaxane and reflects a metastable contracted state. The use of the cooperative forces generated by these self-assembled, nanometer-scale artificial molecular muscles that are electrically wired to an external power supply constitutes a seminal step toward molecular-machine-based nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS).

A nanomechanical device based on linear molecular motors

An array of microcantilever beams, coated with a self-assembled monolayer of bistable, redox-controllable [3]rotaxane molecules, undergoes controllable and reversible bending when it is exposed to chemical oxidants and reductants. Conversely, beams that are coated with a redox-active but mechanically inert control compound do not display the same bending. A series of control experiments and rational assessments preclude the influence of heat, photothermal effects, and pH variation as potential mechanisms of beam bending. Along with a simple calculation from a force balance diagram, these observations support the hypothesis that the cumulative nanoscale movements within surface-bound “molecular muscles” can be harnessed to perform larger-scale mechanical work.

Flipping the switch on chloride concentrations with a light-active foldamer.

Here we demonstrate a bioinspired system where light stimulus is used to trigger the wavelength-dependent release and then reuptake of chloride ions in nonaqueous solutions. A chiral aryl-triazole foldamer with two azobenzene end groups has been synthesized to define a folded binding pocket for chloride ions that unfolds with UV light to liberate the chloride. The trans-dominated helical foldamer becomes less stable upon photoisomerization to the cis forms. Simultaneously, the observed binding affinity shows an ∼10-fold reduction from K = 3000 M(-1) (MeCN, 298 K). Control of chloride levels using light is demonstrated by switching the conductivity of an electrolyte solution up and down.

Dipole-Promoted and Size-Dependent Cooperativity between Pyridyl-Containing Triazolophanes and Halides Leads to Persistent Sandwich Complexes with Iodide

Triazolophanes that incorporate pyridyl subunits in place of phenylenes show a heightened propensity to form 2:1 sandwich complexes with halides. Persistent iodide-based sandwiches are observed. Binding constants confirm that the inward-facing electron pairs on the pyridyls destabilize the 1:1 complexes with halides. The (1)H NMR spectra verify that the sandwich complexes have two pi-stacked triazolophanes rotated to allow registration between opposite dipoles on the pyridyls (directed inward) and triazoles (directed outward). These dipolar interactions cooperate to lower the pyridyl-based repulsions, therefore, increasing K(2). Modest cooperative effects are observed for the snugly fitting F(-), Cl(-), and Br(-) halides while the too-large I(-) shows highly positive cooperativity.

Intramolecular hydrogen bonds preorganize an aryl-triazole receptor into a crescent for chloride binding.

Aryl-triazole pentads have been preorganized with intramolecular hydrogen bonds to enhance chloride binding. This outcome highlights the dual hydrogen bond donor and acceptor properties of 1,2,3-triazoles.

Aromatic and Aliphatic CH Hydrogen Bonds Fight for Chloride while Competing Alongside Ion Pairing within Triazolophanes

Triazolophanes are used as the venue to compete an aliphatic propylene CH hydrogen-bond donor against an aromatic phenylene one. Longer aliphatic C-H...Cl(-) hydrogen bonds were calculated from the location of the chloride within the propylene-based triazolophane. The gas-phase energetics of chloride binding (ΔG(bind) , ΔH(bind) , ΔS(bind) ) and the configurational entropy (ΔS(config) ) were computed by taking all low-energy conformations into account. Comparison between the phenylene- and propylene-based triazolophanes shows the computed gas-phase free energy of binding decreased from ΔG(bind) =-194 to -182 kJ mol(-1) , respectively, with a modest enthalpy-entropy compensation. These differences were investigated experimentally. An (1) H NMR spectroscopy study on the structure of the propylene triazolophanes 1:1 chloride complex is consistent with a weaker propylene CH hydrogen bond. To quantify the affinity differences between the two triazolophanes in dichloromethane, it was critical to obtain an accurate binding model. Four equilibria were identified. In addition to 1:1 complexation and 2:1 sandwich formation, ion pairing of the tetrabutylammonium chloride salt (TBA(+) ⋅Cl(-) ) and cation pairing of TBA(+) with the 1:1 triazolophane-chloride complex were observed and quantified. Each complex was independently verified by ESI-MS or diffusion NMR spectroscopy. With ion pairing deconvoluted from the chloride-receptor binding, equilibrium constants were determined by using (1) H NMR (500 μM) and UV/Vis (50 μM) spectroscopy titrations. The stabilities of the 1:1 complexes for the phenylene and propylene triazolophanes did not differ within experimental error, ΔG=(-38±2) and (-39±1) kJ mol(-1) , respectively, as verified by an NMR spectroscopy competition experiment. Thus, the aliphatic CH donor only revealed its weaker character when competing with aromatic CH donors within the propylene-based triazolophane.