Epoxidation of polybutadiene by a topologically linked catalyst

Catalysts Encapsulated in Molecular Machines

Smart catalysts offer the control of chemical processes and sequences of transformations, and catalysts with unique catalytic behavior can afford chiral products or promote successive polymerization. To meet advanced demands, the key to constructing smart catalysts is to incorporate traditional catalytic functional groups with trigger-induced factors. Molecular machines with dynamic properties and particular topological structures have typical stimulus-responsive features. In recent years, scientists have made efforts to utilize molecular machines (molecular switches, rotaxanes, motors, etc.) as scaffolds to develop smart catalysts. This Minireview focuses on the achievements of developing catalysts encapsulated in molecular machines and their remarkable specialties. This strategy is believed to provide more potential applications in switchable reactions, asymmetric synthesis, and processive catalysis.

A Stimuli-Responsive Rotaxane-Gold Catalyst: Regulation of Activity and Diastereoselectivity

A rotaxane-based Au catalyst was developed and the effect of the mechanical bond on its behavior was studied. Unlike the non-interlocked thread, the rotaxane requires a catalytically innocent cofactor, the identity of which significantly influences both the yield and diastereoselectivity of the reaction. Under optimized conditions, Au(I) (the catalyst), Ag(I) (to abstract the Cl(-) ligand), and Cu(I) (the cofactor) combine to produce a catalyst with excellent activity and selectivity.

Transition metal catalysis in confined spaces

Transition metal catalysis plays an important role in both industry and in academia where selectivity, activity and stability are crucial parameters to control. Next to changing the structure of the ligand, introducing a confined space as a second coordination sphere around a metal catalyst has recently been shown to be a viable method to induce new selectivity and activity in transition metal catalysis. In this review we focus on supramolecular strategies to encapsulate transition metal complexes with the aim of controlling the selectivity via the second coordination sphere. As we will discuss, catalyst confinement can result in selective processes that are impossible or difficult to achieve by traditional methods. We will describe the template-ligand approach as well as the host-guest approach to arrive at such supramolecular systems and discuss how the performance of the catalyst is enhanced by confining it in a molecular container.

D3h -Symmetric Porphyrin-Based Rigid Macrocyclic Ligands for Multicofacial Multinuclear Complexes in a One-Nanometer-Sized Cavity

The one-step synthesis of D3h -symmetric cyclic porphyrin trimers 1 composed of three 2,2'-[4,4'-bis(methoxycarbonyl)]bipyridyl moieties and three porphyrinatozinc moieties was achieved from a nickel-mediated reductive coupling of meso-5,15-bis(6-chloro-4-methoxycarbonylpyrid-2-yl)porphyrinatozinc. Although cyclic trimers 1 were obtained as a mixture that included other cyclic and acyclic porphyrin oligomers, an extremely specific separation was observed only for cyclic trimers 1 when using columns of silica gel modified with pyrenylethyl, cyanopropyl, and other groups. Structural analysis of cyclic trimers 1 was carried out by means of NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. Treatment of an η(3) -allylpalladium complex with a cyclic trimer gave a tris(palladium) complex containing three η(3) -allylpalladium groups inside the space, which indicated that the bipyridyl moieties inside the ring could work as bidentate metalloligands.

Molecular computing: paths to chemical Turing machines

In this perspective, we highlight some of the recent advances in the development of molecular and biomolecular systems for performing logic operations and computing. We also present a blueprint of a chemical Turing machine using a processive catalytic approach.

To comply with the rapidly increasing demand of information storage and processing, new strategies for computing are needed. The idea of molecular computing, where basic computations occur through molecular, supramolecular, or biomolecular approaches, rather than electronically, has long captivated researchers. The prospects of using molecules and (bio)macromolecules for computing is not without precedent. Nature is replete with examples where the handling and storing of data occurs with high efficiencies, low energy costs, and high-density information encoding. The design and assembly of computers that function according to the universal approaches of computing, such as those in a Turing machine, might be realized in a chemical way in the future; this is both fascinating and extremely challenging. In this perspective, we highlight molecular and (bio)macromolecular systems that have been designed and synthesized so far with the objective of using them for computing purposes. We also present a blueprint of a molecular Turing machine, which is based on a catalytic device that glides along a polymer tape and, while moving, prints binary information on this tape in the form of oxygen atoms.

Gated molecular baskets

In this review, we describe the construction of gated molecular baskets, discuss their mechanism of action in regulating the exchange of guests and illustrate the potential of these concave hosts to act as catalysts for controlling chemical reactions. Importantly, a number of computational and experimental studies have suggested that gated baskets ought to unfold their gates at the rim for permitting the passage of guests to/from their inner space. These dynamic hosts are therefore offered as useful models for investigating the process of gating in artificial systems. Furthermore, gated baskets should permit examining the benefit of controlling the rate by which reactants access a gated catalyst for promoting chemical reactions occurring in its confined space.

Artificial switchable catalysts

Catalysis is key to the effective and efficient transformation of readily available building blocks into high value functional molecules and materials. For many years research in this field has largely focussed on the invention of new catalysts and the optimization of their performance to achieve high conversions and/or selectivities. However, inspired by Nature, chemists are beginning to turn their attention to the development of catalysts whose activity in different chemical processes can be switched by an external stimulus. Potential applications include using the states of multiple switchable catalysts to control sequences of transformations, producing different products from a pool of building blocks according to the order and type of stimuli applied. Here we outline the state-of-art in artificial switchable catalysis, classifying systems according to the trigger used to achieve control over the catalytic activity and stereochemical or other structural outcomes of the reaction.

Dimeric packing of molecular clips induced by interactions between π-systems

We report the first observation synthesis and X-ray structures of seven glycoluril clips that feature extended aromatic sidewalls; compounds 1 and 2 are the first examples of the out–out dimeric motif.

Light-powered autonomous and directional molecular motion of a dissipative self-assembling system

Biomolecular motors convert energy into directed motion and operate away from thermal equilibrium. The development of dynamic chemical systems that exploit dissipative (non-equilibrium) processes is a challenge in supramolecular chemistry and a premise for the realization of artificial nanoscale motors. Here, we report the relative unidirectional transit of a non-symmetric molecular axle through a macrocycle powered solely by light. The molecular machine rectifies Brownian fluctuations by energy and information ratchet mechanisms and can repeat its working cycle under photostationary conditions. The system epitomizes the conceptual and practical elements forming the basis of autonomous light-powered directed motion with a minimalist molecular design.

X-ray studies of conformation: observation of conformational polymorphism of a glycoluril clip

In this report, molecular modeling, X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy were used to study the conformational behavior of a novel glycoluril based clip.

Effect of the resorcin[4]arene host on the catalytic epoxidation of a Mn(iii)-based resorcin[4]arene–metalloporphyrin conjugate

The single-crystal X-ray diffraction data, binding behavior, and epoxidation reactions of the cavitand resorcin[4]arene–porphyrin conjugate are presented.

Selecting reactions and reactants using a switchable rotaxane organocatalyst with two different active sites

The activation mode of a rotaxane-based organocatalyst with both secondary amine and squaramide catalytic units can be switched with acid or base. The macrocycle blocks whichever of the catalytic sites it is positioned over. The switchable rotaxane catalyst generates different products from a mixture of three building blocks according to the location of the macrocyclic ring in the rotaxane.

Slippage of a porphyrin macrocycle over threads of varying bulkiness: implications for the mechanism of threading polymers through a macrocyclic ring

Threading of a polymer through a macrocyclic ring may occur directly, that is, by finding the end of the polymer chain, or by a process in which the polymer chain first folds and then threads through the macrocyclic ring in a hairpin-like conformation. We present kinetic and thermodynamic studies on the threading of a macrocyclic porphyrin receptor (H2 1) onto molecular threads that are blocked on one side and are open on the other side. The open side is modified by groups that vary in ease of folding and in bulkiness. Additionally, the threads contain a viologen binding site for the macrocyclic receptor, which is located close to the blocking group. The rates of threading of H2 1 were measured under various conditions, by recording as a function of time the quenching of the fluorescence of the porphyrin, which occurs when receptor H2 1 reaches the viologen binding site. The kinetic data suggest that threading is impossible if the receptor encounters an open side that is sterically encumbered in a similar way as a folded polymer chain. This indicates that threading of polymers through macrocyclic compounds through a folded chain mechanism is unlikely.

Automatic pseudorotaxane formation targeting on nucleic acids using a pair of reactive oligodeoxynucleotides

Here we report a novel method to form a pseudorotaxane architecture using only a pair of reactive oligodeoxyribonucleotides (ODNs), which we designed and synthesized, and then performed the pseudorotaxane formation reaction with both DNA and RNA oligonucleotides. The reaction proceeded smoothly without any extra reagents at 37 °C and pH 7.2, leading to the formation of a stable complex on a denaturing polyacrylamide gel. Interestingly, the pseudorotaxane was formed with the cyclized ODN reversibly by the slipping process. This new pseudorotaxane formation represents a promising method for developing new DNA nanotechnologies and antisense oligonucleotides.

Efficient assembly of threaded molecular machines for sequence-specific synthesis

We report on an improved strategy for the preparation of artificial molecular machines that can pick up and assemble reactive groups in sequence by traveling along a track. In the new approach a preformed rotaxane synthon is attached to the end of an otherwise fully formed strand of building blocks. This "rotaxane-capping" protocol is significantly more efficient than the "final-step-threading" method employed previously and enables the synthesis of threaded molecular machines that operate on extended oligomer, and potentially polymer, tracks. The methodology is exemplified through the preparation of a machine that adds four amino acid building blocks from a strand in sequence, featuring up to 20-membered ring native chemical ligation transition states.

Chemical consequences of mechanical bonding in catenanes and rotaxanes: isomerism, modification, catalysis and molecular machines for synthesis

We highlight some of the less discussed consequences of mechanical bonding for the chemical behaviour of catenanes and rotaxanes, including striking recent examples where molecular motion controls chemical reactions.

Supramolecular catalysis. Part 2: artificial enzyme mimics

The design of artificial catalysts able to compete with the catalytic proficiency of enzymes is an intense subject of research. Non-covalent interactions are thought to be involved in several properties of enzymatic catalysis, notably (i) the confinement of the substrates and the active site within a catalytic pocket, (ii) the creation of a hydrophobic pocket in water, (iii) self-replication properties and (iv) allosteric properties. The origins of the enhanced rates and high catalytic selectivities associated with these properties are still a matter of debate. Stabilisation of the transition state and favourable conformations of the active site and the product(s) are probably part of the answer. We present here artificial catalysts and biomacromolecule hybrid catalysts which constitute good models towards the development of truly competitive artificial enzymes.

Cooperatively enhanced receptors for biomimetic molecular recognition

The concept of preorganization suggests that organizing a receptor around its guest during binding is detrimental, because the cost of conformational change is assumed to be paid out of the binding energy. Although this concept has historically guided the synthesis of a great many synthetic hosts, in recent years, chemists have begun to synthesize receptors that resemble proteins in their cooperative conformational changes. Such changes could enhance the host-guest interactions, in particular if the binding of the guest triggers previously unengaged noncovalent interactions within the host. These hosts, referred to as cooperatively enhanced receptors, corroborate with their biological counterparts to support the approach of creating high-affinity receptors through the combined strategies of cooperativity and preorganization. Solvents, often the invisible participants of any solution-based supramolecular process, should be properly considered in the design of synthetic receptors, whether preorganized or cooperatively enhanced.

Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization by a Ru Phosphine Derivative of Cyclodextrin in Water

Trimethylated cyclodextrins with a phosphine ligand and ruthenium (PCy₂Ru-CDs) realize supramolecular polymerization catalysts for ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). Although PCy₂Ru-βCD shows a low polymerization activity for 7-oxanorbornene dimethanol (7-ONorOH₂) in organic solvents, it exhibits a high ROMP activity for 7-ONorOH₂ in aqueous solutions. The ROMP activity of PCy₂Ru-βCD is higher than that of PCy₂Ru-αCD. The addition of competitive guest molecules decreases the polymer yield, indicating that complexation between PCy₂Ru-CD and 7-ONorOH₂ in water plays an important role in the increased polymer yield.