Improbable Rotaxanes Constructed From Surrogate Malonate Rotaxanes as Encircled Methylene Synthons.

We have developed a new approach for the synthesis of "improbable" rotaxanes by using malonate-centered rotaxanes as interlocked surrogate precursors. Here, the desired dumbbell-shaped structure can be assembled from two different, completely separate, portions, with the only residual structure introduced from the malonate surrogate being a methylene group. We have synthesized improbable [2]- and [3]rotaxanes with all-hydrocarbon dumbbell-shaped components to demonstrate the potential structural flexibility and scope of the guest species that can be interlocked when using this approach.

Interlocking increases the persistence of N-heterocyclic carbenes in solution.

In this study imidazolium and imidazolinium centers in precursor [2]rotaxanes were deprotonated to obtain interlocked molecules featuring stabilized N-heterocyclic carbene centers. The encircling macrocyclic components enhanced the persistence of the otherwise unstable imidazolidin-2-ylidenes in solution at 253 K for more than a week in the absence of air.

N-Heterocyclic Carbene Copper(I) Rotaxanes Mediate Sequential Click Ligations with All Reagents Premixed.

We have prepared NHC-CuI complexes with a rotaxane structure and used them as sterically sensitive catalysts for one-pot sequential copper-catalyzed azide/alkyne cycloadditions in solutions containing all of the coupling partners premixed in unprotected form. Most notably, a photolabile and sterically encumbered complex first catalyzed the coupling of a less bulky azide/alkyne pair; after removing the protective macrocyclic component from the rotaxane structure, through irradiation with light, the exposed dumbbell-shaped NHC-CuI complex catalyzed the second click reaction of a bulkier azide/alkyne pair. Using this approach, we obtained predominantly, from a single sealed pot, a bis-triazole product (84 %) from a mixture of two sterically distinct azides and a diyne.

[2]Catenanes Displaying Switchable Gin-Trap-Like Motion.

Sodium ion-controlled switching from "folded" to "linear" states results in significant changes in the molecular shape of a [2]catenane, such that it mimics the operation of a gin trap, with a fluorescent alarm signal appearing when pyrene side arms were present on its two macrocyclic components.