Yoshihiro Yamauchi

Engineering discrete stacks of aromatic molecules

Intrigued by transannular interactions occurring in stacked aromatic molecules, chemists have long endeavored to engineer discrete stacks of specific lengths and orientation. The maturation of self-assembly methodologies has shifted the focus away from utilizing covalent scaffolds to harnessing non-covalent interactions such as ionic interactions, hydrogen bonds, metal-ligand interactions, and aromatic interactions. Aromatic molecules often assemble into ill-defined, infinite aggregates and thus multiple self-assembly techniques must be combined to achieve the desired stack size and conformations. This critical review briefly highlights covalent scaffolds of stack aromatics before focusing on modern self-assembly based strategies for engineering discrete stacks of aromatic molecules (149 references).

Engineering Double to Quintuple Stacks of a Polarized Aromatic in Confined Cavities

Discrete, well-defined stacks of the polarized aromatic pyrene-4,5-dione (1) were assembled in the cavities of organic-pillared coordination cages (2). The number (n) of stacked guests depends on the pillar length, and up to quintuple stacks (n = 5) were observed when long (16.5 A) organic pillar ligands were incorporated. As previously reported, pyrene-4,5-dione (1) assembles into infinite columnar stacks in the solid state, but the present work demonstrates that the polarized 1 has a strong propensity to stack in layers even in the absence of crystal packing effects. For n = 2 and 3 structures, crystallographic studies revealed that 1 stacks by pi-pi interactions in the cavity in such a way that a net dipole moment is canceled. These results emphasize the important role of dipole-dipole interactions as well as pi-stacking interactions in the formation of columnar stacks of 1.

[m × n] Metal Ion Arrays Templated by Coordination Cages

Three-dimensional m × n arrays of metal ion clusters can be assembled as aromatic stacks of planar polynuclear metal complexes within columnar coordination cages. The polynuclear complexes and cage height program the final array structures of the metal ion clusters. Cyclic trinuclear Au(I) complexes (m = 3) assembled into trigonal prismatic arrays (n = 1-3) within the cages and the array structures were clearly shown by X-ray crystallographic analysis. A silver-sandwiched hetero-Au(3)-Ag-Au(3) cluster was also prepared by treating a hexanuclear Au(3)-Au(3) cluster with Ag(I) ion.

m x n stacks of discrete aromatic stacks in solution.

Septuple columnar stacks of large aromatic molecules with solubilizing side chains have been synthesized via one-step multicomponent self-assembly. At increased concentrations in aqueous solution, m x n aggregates of aromatic stacks form. The simple addition of water induces lyotropic liquid-crystalline mesophases.

Discrete stack of an odd number of polarized aromatic compounds revealing the importance of net vs. local dipoles

Three polarized aromatic guest molecules (pyrene-4,5-dione, 1) form a triple-layered stack in the box-shaped cavity of an organic pillared coordination cage in water. The cavity size strictly limits the number of stacked planar guests but does not restrict guest orientation, and thus enables the study of discrete stacks of polarized guests and their preferred conformations. Crystallographic study shows that the guest molecules in the cavity are rotated 120° with respect to each other, canceling the net dipole moment rather than the local dipole moment. The unique conformation of a discrete, triple stack of 1 sharply contrasts to the standard head-to-tail conformation in infinite stacks of 1.