Electrochemically and Photochemically Driven Ring Motions in a Disymmetrical Copper [2]-Catenate

By applying the three-dimensional template effect of copper(I), previously used for making various interlocking ring systems, a new disymmetrical [2]-catenate has been made which consists of two different interlocking rings. One ring contains a 2,9-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (dpp) unit whereas the other cycle incorporates both a dpp motif and a 2,2',6',2''-terpyridine (terpy) fragment, the coordination site of these two chelates pointing toward the inside of the ring. Depending on the oxidation state of the central metal (Cu(I) or Cu(II)), and thus on its preferred coordination number, two distinct situations have been observed. With monovalent copper, the two dpp units interact with the metal and the terpy fragment remains free, at the outside of the molecule. By contrast, when the catenate is complexed to divalent copper, the terpy motif is bonded to the metal and it is now a dpp ligand which lies at the periphery of the complex. This dual coordination mode leads to dramatically different molecular shapes and properties for both forms. The molecular motion which interconverts the four- and the five-coordinate complexes can be triggered chemically, electrochemically, or photochemically by changing the oxidation state of the copper center (II/I). The process has been studied by electrochemistry and by UV-vis spectroscopy. Interestingly, once the stable 4-coordinate copper(I) complex has been oxidized to a thermodynamically unstable pseudo-tetrahedral copper(II) species, the rate of the gliding motion of the rings which will afford the stable 5-coordinate species (copper(II) coordinated to dpp and terpy) can be controlled at will. Under certain experimental conditions, the changeover process is extremely slow (weeks), and the 4-coordinate complex is more or less frozen. By contrast, addition of a coordinating counterion to the medium (Cl^-) enormously speeds up the rearrangement and leads to the thermodynamically stable 5-coordinate complex within minutes.