Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 28, 2026

Facet-to-facet Linking of Shape-anisotropic Colloidal Cadmium Chalcogenide Nanostructures
Published on: August 10, 2017
Subcomponent self-assembly and guest-binding properties of face-capped Fe4L4(8+) capsules
Rana A Bilbeisi1, Jack K Clegg, Noémie Elgrishi
1Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK.
Abstract:
A general method for preparing Fe(4)L(4) face-capped tetrahedral cages through subcomponent self-assembly was developed and has been demonstrated using four different C(3)-symmetric triamines, 2-formylpyridine, and iron(II). Three of the triamines were shown also to form Fe(2)L(3) helicates when the appropriate stoichiometry of subcomponents was used. Two of the cages were observed to have nearly identical Fe-Fe distances in the solid state, which enabled their ligands to be coincorporated into a collection of mixed cages. Only one of the cages combined a sufficiently large cavity with the sufficiently small pores required for guest binding, taking up a wide variety of guest species in size- and shape-selective fashion.
Related Concept Videos
Valence Bond Theory
Ionic Crystal Structures
Most monatomic ions behave as charged spheres, and their attraction for ions of opposite charge is the same in every direction. Consequently, stable structures for ionic compounds result (1) when ions of one charge are surrounded by as many ions as possible of the opposite...
Metallic Solids
All metallic solids exhibit high thermal and electrical conductivity, metallic luster, and malleability. Many...
Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
Protein Complexes with Interchangeable Parts
The SCF ubiquitin ligase is a protein complex of five individual proteins. This complex attaches ubiquitin to other target proteins to mark them for degradation. In order to...
Crystal Field Theory - Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than the dxy,...

