On a roll : Attachment of flexible coils to the middle of a rigid rod generates T‐shaped rod–coil molecules that self‐assemble into layers that roll up to form filled cylindrical and hollow tubular scrolls, depending on the coil length, in the solid state (see picture); the rods are arranged parallel to the layer plane.
Once difficult to obtain , the title compounds can be prepared in virtually enantiomerically pure form with a bis(triorganostannyl) zinc reagent (see scheme). Subsequent diastereoselective thermal (left) and Lewis acid promoted reactions (right) illustrate the synthetic potential of these compounds.
Up to four adjacent stereocenters can be formed stereoselectively in the construction of a pyrrolizidine unit through a novel organocatalytic reaction that involves treatment of various dienones with ethyl isocyanoacetate (see scheme; DBU=1,8‐diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec‐7‐ene). Mechanisms for this atom‐economic, one‐pot synthesis have been proposed.
π–π assisted : Photoinduced electron transfer from cofacial porphyrin dimers to electron acceptors is prominently accelerated, whereas the back electron transfer is decelerated, relative to the corresponding porphyrin monomer (see figure).
