作者:Eisuke Ohta、Hiroyasu Sato、Shinji Ando、Atsuko Kosaka、Takanori Fukushima、Daisuke Hashizume、Mikio Yamasaki、Kimiko Hasegawa、Azusa Muraoka、Hiroshi Ushiyama、Koichi Yamashita、Takuzo Aida
DOI:10.1038/nchem.900
日期:2011.1
Helices have long attracted the attention of chemists, both for their inherent chiral structure and their potential for applications such as the separation of chiral compounds or the construction of molecular machines. As a result of steric forces, polymeric o-phenylenes adopt a tight helical conformation in which the densely packed phenylene units create a highly condensed Ï-cloud. Here, we show an oligomeric o-phenylene that undergoes a redox-responsive dynamic motion. In solution, the helices undergo a rapid inversion. During crystallization, however, a chiral symmetry-breaking phenomenon is observed in which each crystal contains only one enantiomeric form. Crystals of both handedness are obtained, but in a non-racemic mixture. Furthermore, in solution, the dynamic motion of the helical oligomer is dramatically suppressed by one-electron oxidation. X-ray crystallography of both the neutral and oxidized forms indicated that a hole, generated upon oxidation, is shared by the repeating o-phenylene units. This enables conformational locking of the helix, and represents a long-lasting chiroptical memory. Phenylene oligomers are shown to form left- and right-handed helices in solution, but a chiral symmetry-breaking process occurs on crystallization to give a non-racemic mixture of crystals that each contains only one enantiomer. One-electron oxidation of the oligomers suppresses the interconversion of the mirror-image helices in solution, locking-in one conformation and leading to chiral memory effects.
螺旋结构因其固有的手性结构以及在分离手性化合物或构建分子机器等方面的应用潜力,长期以来一直吸引着化学家的关注。在立体力的作用下,聚合邻苯基形成了紧密的螺旋构象,其中密集的亚苯基单元形成了高度凝聚的 Ï 云。在这里,我们展示了一种发生氧化还原反应动态运动的低聚邻苯。在溶液中,螺旋发生快速反转。然而,在结晶过程中,我们观察到一种手性对称性破坏现象,即每个晶体只包含一种对映体形式。两种手性的晶体都能获得,但都是非对映混合物。此外,在溶液中,螺旋低聚物的动态运动受到单电子氧化的显著抑制。中性和氧化形式的 X 射线晶体学显示,氧化时产生的空穴由重复的邻苯单元共享。这使得螺旋的构象锁定成为可能,并代表了一种持久的自旋记忆。研究表明,苯基低聚物在溶液中可形成左旋和右旋螺旋,但在结晶时会发生手性对称性破坏过程,产生一种非外消旋混合物晶体,每种晶体只含有一种对映体。低聚物的单电子氧化抑制了溶液中镜像螺旋的相互转换,锁定了一种构象,从而产生了手性记忆效应。