| RESEARCH |
Anion-directed double helix A fluoride anion has been used to direct the self-assembly of neutral amide ligands into a double helix. Chemists Philip A. Gale, Jeremy G. Frey, and coworkers at the University of Southampton, England, synthesized an isophthalamide ligand (shown) and formed crystals of its fluoride complex [Chem. Commun., 2003, 568]. The X-ray crystal structure of the complex revealed a double helix bound around two fluoride anions by NH···F– hydrogen bonds and - interactions between the terminal nitroaromatic groups. The authors point out that the use of anionic components to direct self-assembly is an area of supramolecular chemistry that is still in its infancy. "While there have been examples of anions templating the formation of cationic species into helices, this is the first example of an anion templating a neutral synthetic amide into such a structure," Frey tells C&EN. "Our paper reveals the largely untapped potential for the use of anions in the templation of more complex molecular architectures." |
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