DOUBLE SUBROUTINE SELF-ASSEMBLY - SPONTANEOUS GENERATION OF A NANOCYCLIC DODECANUCLEAR CU-I INORGANIC ARCHITECTURE

The newly synthesised ligand 2 combines binding components known to un dergo specific and distinct self-assembly processes with Cu-I ions, It complexes Cu-I to form, in almost quantitative yield, a large inorgan ic architecture 1 made up from four ligand molecules and twelve metal ions. The structure of 1 was ascertained by X-ray radiocrystallography as well as by NMR spectroscopy and electrospray mass spectrometry. It consists of a macrocycle of nanometric dimension with an external dia meter of 28 Angstrom; the central cavity has a diameter of 11 Angstrom , which contains four PF6- anions as well as solvent molecules. The sp ontaneous formation of 1 results from a self-assembly process based on a ''program'' combining two assembly subroutines, each specific to on e of the ligand subunits. Self-assembly through double or, more genera lly, multiple subroutines can be used to generate a wide variety of hi ghly complex inorganic supramolecular architectures by combination of two or more assembly processes.