A Molecular Chameleon: Chromophoric Sensing by a Self-Complexing Molecular Assembly

Reinhard Wolf; Masumi Asakawa; Peter R Ashton; Marcos Gómez-López; Christoph Hamers; Stephan Menzer; Ian W Parsons; Neil Spencer; J Fraser Stoddart; Malcolm S Tolley; David J Williams

doi:10.1002/(SICI)1521-3773(19980420)37:7<975::AID-ANIE975>3.0.CO;2-L

A Molecular Chameleon: Chromophoric Sensing by a Self-Complexing Molecular Assembly

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 1998 Apr 20;37(7):975-979. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1521-3773(19980420)37:7<975::AID-ANIE975>3.0.CO;2-L.

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT (UK).
² Chemical Crystallography Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Imperial College, South Kensington, London SW7 2AY (UK), Fax: (+44) 171-594-5804.

PMID: 29711472
DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1521-3773(19980420)37:7<975::AID-ANIE975>3.0.CO;2-L

Abstract

A color change from purple to green takes place on addition of tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) to the macrobicyclic receptor 1⁴⁺ , which is composed of a cyclobis(paraquat-p-phenylene) tetracation that shares one of its paraphenylene rings with a 1,5-naphthoparaphenylene-[36]crown-10 macrocycle. The TTF molecule forces the macrobicycle to turn inside out (see schematic drawing below) and displaces the self-complexed 1,5-dioxynaphthalene ring system from the center of the tetracationic cyclophane.

Keywords: Chromophores; Molecular devices; Nanostructures; Receptors; Supramolecular chemistry.