Probing the structure of a rotaxane with two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Sep 20;102(38):13378-82. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0505313102. Epub 2005 Sep 6.

Abstract

Femtosecond 2D-IR spectroscopy has been used to study the structure of a [2]rotaxane composed of a benzylic amide macrocycle that is mechanically interlocked onto a succinamide-based thread. Both the macrocycle and the thread contain carbonyl groups, and by determining the coupling between the stretching modes of these groups from the cross-peaks in the 2D-IR spectrum, the structure of the macrocycle-thread system has been probed. Our results demonstrate that 2D-IR spectroscopy can be used to observe structural changes in molecular devices on a picosecond time scale.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amides / chemistry
  • Hydrogen Bonding
  • Molecular Structure
  • Rotaxanes / chemistry*
  • Spectrophotometry, Infrared / methods
  • Succinates

Substances

  • Amides
  • Rotaxanes
  • Succinates
  • succinamide