Coordination-driven self-assembly is a reliable method for the preparation of three-dimensional nanostructures.[1] There are numerous examples of coordination cages and capsules with organic ligands consisting of small aromatic rings and/or π-conjugated wire-like units. However, coordination nanostructures bearing ligands with large polyaromatic rings remained uncommon until around 2010. Thus, successful development of coordination-driven capsules comprising polyaromatic frameworks was expected to engender unusual phenomena in the confined cavities. Here we report unique host properties of polyaromatic coordination capsules composed of two metal ions and four bent ligands with two anthracene panels.[2,3] The polyaromatic capsules encapsulate bowl-shaped corannulenes, planar fluorescent dyes, reactive radical initiators, a hydrophilic disaccharide,[4] and cyclic sulfur clusters[5] in aqueous solutions. In the confined nanospace, these guest molecules show intriguing chemical or physical properties, which cannot be observed in bulk solutions.

Unique host properties of polyaromatic coordination capsules

255th National Meeting (2018)

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