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Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Self-assembling Morphologies Obtained from Helical Polycarbodiimide Copolymers and Their Triazole Derivatives
Published on: February 7, 2017
Chemically controlled self-assembly of [2]pseudorotaxanes based on 1,2-bis(benzimidazolium)ethane cations and
Dolores Castillo1, Pablo Astudillo, Jennifer Mares
1Departamento de Química, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados, Avenida IPN 2508, Zacatenco 07360, México DF, Mexico.
Abstract:
Cations derived from 1,2-bis(benzimidazolium)ethane can penetrate the cavity of dibenzo-24-crown-8 macrocycles to produce a new family of [2]pseudorotaxanes. These supramolecular structures are held together by a series of charge-assisted hydrogen bonds (+)N-H[dot dot dot]O, ion-dipole and pi-stacking interactions. These new adducts were fully characterised by NMR spectroscopy, ESI mass spectrometry and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The effect of electron-donating and electron-withdrawing groups on the association constants was also analyzed. Chemical control of the threading/unthreading process was acheived by the alternate addition of acid and base.
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