Date | 8th, Jun 2018 |
---|
Home > Press > Nano-saturn: Supramolecular complex formation: Anthracene macrocycle and C60 fullerene
Abstract: Saturn is the second largest planet in our solar system and has a characteristic ring. Japanese researchers have now synthesized a molecular "nano-Saturn". As the scientists report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, it consists of a spherical C(60) fullerene as the planet and a flat macrocycle made of six anthracene units as the ring. The structure is confirmed by spectroscopic and X-ray analyses.
Tokyo, Japan | Posted on June 8th, 2018
Nano-Saturn systems with a spherical molecule and a macrocyclic ring have been a fascinating structural motif for researchers. The ring must have a rigid, circular form, and must hold the molecular sphere firmly in its midst. Fullerenes are ideal candidates for the nano-sphere. They are made of carbon atoms linked into a network of rings that form a hollow sphere. The most famous fullerene, C(60), consists of 60 carbon atoms arranged into 5- and 6-membered rings like the leather patches of a classic soccer ball. The electrons in their double bonds, knows as the π-electrons, are in a kind of "electron cloud", able to freely move about and have binding interactions with other molecules, such as a macrocycle that also has a "cloud" of pi-electrons. The attractive interactions between the electron clouds allow fullerenes to lodge in the cavities of such macrocycles.
A series of such complexes has previously been synthesized. Because of the positions of the electron clouds around the macrocycles, it was previously only possible to make rings that surround the fullerene like a belt or a tire. The ring around Saturn, however, is not like a "belt" or "tire", it is a very flat disc. Researchers working at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and Okayama University of Science (Japan) wanted to properly imitate this at nanoscale.
Their success resulted from a different type of bonding between the "nano-planet" and its "nano-ring". Instead of using the attraction between the pi-electron clouds of the fullerene and macrocycle, the team working with Shinji Toyota used the weak attractive interactions between the pi-electron cloud of the fullerene and non- π-electron of the carbon-hydrogen groups of the macrocycle.
To construct their "Saturn ring", the researchers chose to use anthracene units, molecules made of three aromatic six-membered carbon rings linked along their edges. They linked six of these units into a macrocycle whose cavity was the perfect size and shape for a C(60) fullerene. Eighteen hydrogen atoms of the macrocycle project into the middle of the cavity. In total, their interactions with the fullerene are enough to give the complex enough stability, as shown by computer simulations. By using X-ray analysis and NMR spectroscopy, the team was able to prove experimentally that they had produced Saturn-shaped complexes.
###
About the Author
Dr Shinji Toyota is professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Department of Chemistry, School of Science. His major research areas are physical organic chemistry, aromatic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, and stereochemistry.
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:Mario Mueller
Copyright © Wiley
If you have a comment, please Contact us.
Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Imaging
News and information
Scientists unravel 'Hall effect' mystery in search for next generation memory storage devices August 19th, 2022
Researchers design new inks for 3D-printable wearable bioelectronics: Potential uses include printing electronic tattoos for medical tracking applications August 19th, 2022
Govt.-Legislation/Regulation/Funding/Policy
New chip ramps up AI computing efficiency August 19th, 2022
Rice team eyes cells for sophisticated data storage: National Science Foundation backs effort to turn living cells into equivalent of computer RAM August 19th, 2022
UNC Charlotte-led team invents new anticoagulant platform, offering hope for advances for heart surgery, dialysis, other procedures July 15th, 2022
Possible Futures
New chip ramps up AI computing efficiency August 19th, 2022
Rice team eyes cells for sophisticated data storage: National Science Foundation backs effort to turn living cells into equivalent of computer RAM August 19th, 2022
Nanotubes/Buckyballs/Fullerenes/Nanorods
Buckyballs on gold are less exotic than graphene July 22nd, 2022
Strain-sensing smart skin ready to deploy: Nanotube-embedded coating detects threats from wear and tear in large structures July 15th, 2022
Boron nitride nanotube fibers get real: Rice lab creates first heat-tolerant, stable fibers from wet-spinning process June 24th, 2022
Nanotubes: a promising solution for advanced rubber cables with 60% less conductive filler June 1st, 2022
Discoveries
Scientists unravel 'Hall effect' mystery in search for next generation memory storage devices August 19th, 2022
Researchers design new inks for 3D-printable wearable bioelectronics: Potential uses include printing electronic tattoos for medical tracking applications August 19th, 2022
Visualizing nanoscale structures in real time: Open-source software enables researchers to see materials in 3D while they're still on the electron microscope August 19th, 2022
Materials/Metamaterials
Strain-sensing smart skin ready to deploy: Nanotube-embedded coating detects threats from wear and tear in large structures July 15th, 2022
New protocol for assessing the safety of nanomaterials July 1st, 2022
Nanotubes: a promising solution for advanced rubber cables with 60% less conductive filler June 1st, 2022
Announcements
Scientists unravel 'Hall effect' mystery in search for next generation memory storage devices August 19th, 2022
Researchers design new inks for 3D-printable wearable bioelectronics: Potential uses include printing electronic tattoos for medical tracking applications August 19th, 2022
Visualizing nanoscale structures in real time: Open-source software enables researchers to see materials in 3D while they're still on the electron microscope August 19th, 2022
Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters
Scientists unravel 'Hall effect' mystery in search for next generation memory storage devices August 19th, 2022
Researchers design new inks for 3D-printable wearable bioelectronics: Potential uses include printing electronic tattoos for medical tracking applications August 19th, 2022
Visualizing nanoscale structures in real time: Open-source software enables researchers to see materials in 3D while they're still on the electron microscope August 19th, 2022
Tools
Atomic level deposition to extend Moore's law and beyond July 15th, 2022
New technology helps reveal inner workings of human genome June 24th, 2022
Snapshot measurement of single nanostructure's circular dichroism March 25th, 2022
Grants/Sponsored Research/Awards/Scholarships/Gifts/Contests/Honors/Records
New chip ramps up AI computing efficiency August 19th, 2022
UNC Charlotte-led team invents new anticoagulant platform, offering hope for advances for heart surgery, dialysis, other procedures July 15th, 2022
Photoinduced large polaron transport and dynamics in organic-inorganic hybrid lead halide perovskite with terahertz probes July 8th, 2022
Luisier wins SNSF Advanced Grant to develop simulation tools for nanoscale devices July 8th, 2022