Although many impressive metallo-supramolecular architectures have been reported, they tend towards high symmetry structures and avoid extraneous functionality to ensure high fidelity in the self-assembly process. This minimalist approach, however, limits the range of accessible structures and thus their potential applications. Herein is described the synthesis of a family of ditopic ligands wherein the ligand scaffolds are both low symmetry and incorporate exohedral functional moieties. Key to this design is the use of CuI -catalysed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) chemistry, as the triazole is capable of acting as both a coordinating heterocycle and a tether between the ligand framework and functional unit simultaneously. A common precursor was used to generate ligands with various functionalities, allowing control of electronic properties whilst maintaining the core structure of the resultant cis-Pd2 L4 nanocage assemblies. The isostructural nature of the scaffold frameworks enabled formation of combinatorial libraries from the self-assembly of ligand mixtures, generating a statistical mixture of multi-functional, low symmetry architectures.
Keywords: asymmetrical; cages; combinatorial library; metallo-supramolecular; self-assembly.
© 2021 The Authors. Chemistry - A European Journal published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.