| Institution: | 1. School of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2052 Australia;2. School of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2052 Australia
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Center for Chemistry of High-Performance & Novel Materials, Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027 China;3. ANSTO-Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Road, Clayton, Victoria, 3168 Australia;4. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden;5. State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Center for Chemistry of High-Performance & Novel Materials, Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027 China |
| Abstract: | The reaction of 4,4′,4′′,4′′′-(ethene-1,1,2,2-tetrayl)tetraaniline with 2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde and iron(II) chloride resulted, after aqueous workup, in the diastereoselective formation of an Fe2L3]4+ triple-stranded helicate structure, irrespective of the stoichiometry employed. The helicate structure was characterized in solution by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, and in the solid state by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The reaction of iron(II) tetrafluoroborate or iron(II) bistriflimide with the tetraaniline and 2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde allowed the formation of an Fe8L6]16+ cube when the appropriate stoichiometry was used, but these structures were unstable with respect to hydrolysis. The pendant amine groups on the helicate can be functionalized by reaction with acid chlorides or anhydrides, and the resulting functionalized tetraphenylethene (TPE) units were isolated by the reaction of the helicate with tris(2-aminoethyl)amine. The emission properties of the TPE units were studied in THF/water mixtures, and they were found by dynamic light scattering to self-assemble into large (av. diameter 250 nm) structures. |
