Molecular assembly with a figure-of-eight nanohoop as a strategy for the collection and stabilization of cyclo[18]carbon

Zeyu Liu; Xia Wang; Tian Lu; Jiaojiao Wang; Xiufen Yan; Yang Wu; Jingbo Xu

doi:10.1039/d3cp01896b

Molecular assembly with a figure-of-eight nanohoop as a strategy for the collection and stabilization of cyclo[18]carbon

Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2023 Jun 28;25(25):16707-16711. doi: 10.1039/d3cp01896b.

Authors

Zeyu Liu¹, Xia Wang¹, Tian Lu², Jiaojiao Wang¹, Xiufen Yan¹, Yang Wu¹, Jingbo Xu¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, People's Republic of China.
² Beijing Kein Research Center for Natural Sciences, Beijing 100022, People's Republic of China.

PMID: 37313788
DOI: 10.1039/d3cp01896b

Abstract

The recently synthesized novel figure-of-eight nanohoop with two strained oligoparaphenylenes (OPPs) was theoretically designed to collect and stabilize new allotropic carbon cyclo[18]carbon (C₁₈) through molecular assembly. The size adaptability and shape complementarity of C₁₈ to OPP make it possible for them to combine into extraordinary ring-in-ring supramolecules. Thermodynamic analysis of 2C₁₈@OPP showed that the host-guest complex should spontaneously form below 404 K. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations demonstrated that the assembly of C₁₈ and OPP into host-guest complexes of up to 1 : 2 can occur at ambient temperature. Various real-space function analyses revealed that the nature of the non-covalent interaction between C₁₈ and OPP is the van der Waals (vdW) attraction characterized by π-π stacking. Photoexcitation makes the host-guest complexes less stable in their S₁ state by causing the central linker to flatten.