Narcissistic self-sorting in anion-coordination-driven assemblies

Chem Commun (Camb). 2021 Jun 21;57(49):6078-6081. doi: 10.1039/d1cc01652k. Epub 2021 May 26.

Abstract

Three tris-bis(urea) ligands with triphenylamine-based C3-symmetric spacers were synthesized, which assembled with sulfate or phosphate to form anionic A3L2 pinwheel helices (A = anion and L = ligand) and A4L4 tetrahedra, respectively. Interestingly, narcissistic self-sorting was observed in both structures from the mixture of the ligands, wherein each assembly contains only one type of ligand with no detectable mixed-ligand product as confirmed by the NMR and MS studies.