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Updated: Apr 12, 2026

Self-assembly of Complex Two-dimensional Shapes from Single-stranded DNA Tiles
Published on: May 8, 2015
Chains, necklaces and weaving chain-link grids from self-assembly reactions
Cristina Alvariño1,2, Damien Simond1, Pau Moneva Lorente1
1Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, University of Geneva, 30 quai Ernest Ansermet, CH 1211 Geneva 4 (Switzerland).
Abstract:
Assembly of two ditopic units, a phenanthroline substituted by 4-ethynyl pyridines at the 2-and 9-positions and a dimetallic paddlewheel, gives a linear chain polymer rather than a closed cyclic species, which would appear equally possible. The chain may be decorated by binding a copper-containing macrocycle around the phenanthroline units to form a polypseudorotaxane. When two phenanthroline ligands are assembled in a first step around copper(I), the paddlewheel acceptor can link them in a second step to form a two-dimensional interwoven grid that resembles the form of a chain-link fence. Each copper(I) centre in this structure is chiral, and the crystal shows complete homochirality, implying selection during the assembly process.
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