Dynamic Devices. Shape Switching and Substrate Binding in Ion-Controlled Nanomechanical Molecular Tweezers
作者:Anne Petitjean、Richard G. Khoury、Nathalie Kyritsakas、Jean-Marie Lehn
DOI:10.1021/ja031915r
日期:2004.6.1
As examples of supramolecular devices performing chemical (ionic, molecular) control of binding events and models of related natural systems, two molecular conformational switches are described, which display cation-controlled nanomechanical motion coupled to substrate binding and release. The substrate binding relies on donor/acceptor interactions, provided by intercalation between planar sites located at the extremities of the switching units, whereas cation complexation is responsible for conformational regulation. The terpyridine py-py-py-based receptor is activated toward substrate binding upon complexation of a zinc(II) cation and operates in a two-state process. The replacement of the central pyridine by a 4,6-disubstituted pyridimine as in py-pym-py induces a state reversal and yields a new receptor which binds a substrate in the absence of cation, and releases it when copper(I) is introduced, following a three-step process. These systems represent effector-triggered supramolecular switching devices leading toward multistate nanomechanical chemical systems. These two systems illustrate the use of simple conformational switches in the binding site and allosteric regulation of substrate affinity.