Jordi Solà

An autonomous chemically fuelled small-molecule motor

Molecular machines are among the most complex of all functional molecules and lie at the heart of nearly every biological process. A number of synthetic small-molecule machines have been developed, including molecular muscles, synthesizers, pumps, walkers, transporters and light-driven and electrically driven rotary motors. However, although biological molecular motors are powered by chemical gradients or the hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), so far there are no synthetic small-molecule motors that can operate autonomously using chemical energy (that is, the components move with net directionality as long as a chemical fuel is present). Here we describe a system in which a small molecular ring (macrocycle) is continuously transported directionally around a cyclic molecular track when powered by irreversible reactions of a chemical fuel, 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl chloride. Key to the design is that the rate of reaction of this fuel with reactive sites on the cyclic track is faster when the macrocycle is far from the reactive site than when it is near to it. We find that a bulky pyridine-based catalyst promotes carbonate-forming reactions that ratchet the displacement of the macrocycle away from the reactive sites on the track. Under reaction conditions where both attachment and cleavage of the 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl groups occur through different processes, and the cleavage reaction occurs at a rate independent of macrocycle location, net directional rotation of the molecular motor continues for as long as unreacted fuel remains. We anticipate that autonomous chemically fuelled molecular motors will find application as engines in molecular nanotechnology.

Foldamer-Mediated Remote Stereocontrol: > 1,60 Asymmetric Induction

An N-terminal L-α-methylvaline dimer induces complete conformational control over the screw sense of an otherwise achiral helical peptide foldamer formed from the achiral quaternary amino acids Aib and Ac6 c. The persistent right-handed screw-sense preference of the helix enables remote reactive sites to fall under the influence of the terminal chiral residues, and permits diastereoselective reactions such as alkene hydrogenation or iminium ion addition to take place with 1,16-, 1,31-, 1,46- and even 1,61-asymmetric induction. Stereochemical information may be communicated in this way over distances of up to 4 nm.

Pick-up, transport and release of a molecular cargo using a small-molecule robotic arm

Modern-day factory assembly lines often feature robots that pick up, reposition and connect components in a programmed manner. The idea of manipulating molecular fragments in a similar way has to date only been explored using biological building blocks (specifically DNA). Here, we report on a wholly artificial small-molecule robotic arm capable of selectively transporting a molecular cargo in either direction between two spatially distinct, chemically similar, sites on a molecular platform. The arm picks up/releases a 3-mercaptopropanehydrazide cargo by formation/breakage of a disulfide bond, while dynamic hydrazone chemistry controls the cargo binding to the platform. Transport is controlled by selectively inducing conformational and configurational changes within an embedded hydrazone rotary switch that steers the robotic arm. In a three-stage operation, 79-85% of 3-mercaptopropanehydrazide molecules are transported in either (chosen) direction between the two platform sites, without the cargo at any time fully dissociating from the machine nor exchanging with other molecules in the bulk.

Measuring Screw-Sense Preference in a Helical Oligomer by Comparison of 13C NMR Signal Separation at Slow and Fast Exchange

While an unequal population of rapidly interconverting left- and right-handed conformers of a helical oligomer can be detected by circular dichroism, precise quantification of a conformer ratio has not previously been achieved. We demonstrate, using a set of labeled peptide analogues, that simple analysis of peak separation in their (13)C NMR spectra at slow and fast exchange allows an accurate value for the ratio of helical conformers to be obtained. The method reports the ratio of conformers at the site of the label and can therefore be used to investigate local variations in helical conformational control.

N- versus C-Terminal Control over the Screw-Sense Preference of the Configurationally Achiral, Conformationally Helical Peptide Motif Aib8GlyAib8

Conformational control over the screw sense of a helical 17-mer of achiral amino acids, Aib(8)GlyAib(8), from a single chiral residue located at the N-terminus is better than that from a single amino acid located at the C-terminus. X-ray crystallography indicates that Aib(8)GlyAib(8) forms the longest 3(10) helical structure observed crystallographically to date.

N-Phosphino-p-tolylsulfinamide Ligands: Synthesis, Stability, and Application to the Intermolecular Pauson−Khand Reaction

Here we synthesized a family of racemic and optically pure N-phosphino-p-tolylsulfinamide (PNSO) ligands. Their stability and coordination behavior toward dicobalt-alkyne complexes was evaluated. Selectivities of up to 3:1 were achieved in the ligand exchange process with (mu-TMSC2H)Co2(CO)6. The resulting optically pure major complexes were tested in the asymmetric intermolecular Pauson-Khand reaction and yielded up to 94% ee. X-ray studies of the major complex 18a indicated that the presence of an aryl group on the sulfinamide reduces the hemilabile character of the PNSO ligands.

Chemical communication: Conductors and insulators of screw-sense preference between helical oligo(aminoisobutyric acid) domains

(1)H NMR studies quantify the abilities of achiral amino acids to communicate a left-handed screw-sense preference from one helical Aib(4) domain to another: certain quaternary amino acids (e.g. Ac(6)c) act as effective conductors of conformational preference while others (e.g. diphenylglycine) acts as insulators.

Synthesis of enantiomerically enriched (R)-13C-labelled 2-aminoisobutyric acid (Aib) by conformational memory in the alkylation of a derivative of L-alanine

Summary The method of Kouklovsky and coworkers for the enantioselective alkylation of cyclic N-naphthoyl derivatives of amino acids was used to introduce a 13C label into one of the two enantiotopic methyl groups of 2-aminoisobutyric acid (Aib) by retentive alkylation of L-alanine with 13CH3I. Conditions were identified for optimization of yield and enantiomeric purity, and the absolute configuration of the labelled product was established.

Interruption of a 310-helix by a single Gly residue in a poly-Aib motif: A crystallographic study

The structural influence of a single Gly residue inserted into an Aib(16) homooligomer was studied in the solid state by X-ray crystallography. The peptides N(3)Aib(8)GlyAib(8)PheNH(2) (1) and CbzPheAib(8)GlyAib(8) (2) were found to adopt well-defined helical structures, which are broadly 3(10) helical. Indeed, 2 is the longest crystallographic 3(10) helix thus far reported. However, in the region of the central Gly residue, a loosening of the 3(10) structure is observed in both peptides, with 1 clearly showing local adoption of an α-helical structure in the region of residues 7-9.

Adaptive Correction from Virtually Complex Dynamic Libraries: The Role of Noncovalent Interactions in Structural Selection and Folding.

The hierarchical self-assembling of complex molecular systems is dictated by the chemical and structural information stored in their components. This information can be expressed through an adaptive process that determines the structurally fittest assembly under given environmental conditions. We have set up complex disulfide-based dynamic covalent libraries of chemically and topologically diverse pseudopeptidic compounds. We show how the reaction evolves from very complex mixtures at short reaction times to the almost exclusive formation of a major compound, through the establishment of intramolecular noncovalent interactions. Our experiments demonstrate that the systems evolve through error-check and error-correction processes. The nature of these interactions, the importance of the folding and the effects of the environment are also discussed.