We report on the design, synthesis, and operation of a bimetallic molecular biped on a three-foothold track. The "walker" features a palladium(II) complex "foot" that can be selectively stepped between 4-dimethylaminopyridine and pyridine ligand sites on the track via reversible protonation while the walker remains attached to the track throughout by means of a kinetically inert platinum(II) complex foot. The substitution pattern of the three ligand binding sites, together with the kinetic stability of the metal-ligand coordination bonds, affords the two positional isomers a high degree of metastability, meaning that altering the chemical state of the track does not automatically instigate stepping in the absence of an additional stimulus (heat in the presence of a coordinating solvent). The use of metastable metal complexes for foot-track interactions offers a promising alternative to dynamic covalent chemistry for the design of small-molecule synthetic molecular walkers.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja4123973DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

metal complexes
8
molecular biped
8
complexes directionally
4
directionally walk
4
walk tracks
4
tracks controlled
4
controlled stepping
4
stepping molecular
4
biped palladiumii
4
palladiumii foot
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!