Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Novel Techniques for Observing Structural Dynamics of Photoresponsive Liquid Crystals
Published on: May 29, 2018
Redox-responsive molecular helices with highly condensed π-clouds
Eisuke Ohta1, Hiroyasu Sato, Shinji Ando
1RIKEN Advanced Science Institute, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
Abstract:
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 π-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.
More Related Videos
10:24Defining Hsp33's Redox-regulated Chaperone Activity and Mapping Conformational Changes on Hsp33 Using Hydrogen-deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry
Published on: June 7, 2018
06:53Magnetometric Characterization of Intermediates in the Solid-State Electrochemistry of Redox-Active Metal-Organic Frameworks
Published on: June 9, 2023
Related Concept Videos
Redox Reactions
Redox Reactions
Radical Reactivity: Overview
Resonance and Hybrid Structures
Resonance Structures and Resonance Hybrids
The Lewis structure of a nitrite anion (NO2−) may actually be drawn in two different ways, distinguished by the locations of the N–O and N=O bonds.
Redox Equilibria: Overview
Molecular Models