ORGN 18 |
Conformationally programmable molecular receptors
| Ken D. Shimizu, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, 631 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC 29208 |
Our goal has been to design recognition systems that can be reversibly shaped on the molecular level like 'molecular playdough.' Our systems are based on a N,N'-diaryl diimide platform that displays restricted restricted rotation. This yields two room temperature stable atropisomers isomers: a convergent 'folded' and a divergent 'unfolded' conformers. These systems are flexible enough to mold and change shape but are stable enough to maintain their shape at room temperature. By heating in the presence of guest we can favor the folded conformer, which on cooling to room temperature becomes locked into a stable structure even after removing the guest. This conformational preference can also be 'erased' by heating in the absence of guest or reversed by heated under different conditions to form the 'unfolded' state.  |
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