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Updated: Feb 26, 2026

From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding
Published on: March 24, 2018
Cationic all-halogen bonding rotaxanes for halide anion recognition
Xiaoxiong Li1, Jason Y C Lim, Paul D Beer
1Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX 1 3TA, UK. paul.beer@chem.ox.ac.uk.
Abstract:
A family of cationic halogen bonding [2]rotaxanes have been synthesised via an active-metal template synthetic strategy. 1H NMR spectroscopic anion titration investigations reveal these interlocked host systems recognize halides selectively over oxoanions in aqueous-organic solvent media. Furthermore, systematically modulating the rigidity and size of the rotaxanes' anion binding cavities via metal complexation, as well as by varying the number of halogen bond-donor groups in the axle component, was found to dramatically influence halide anion selectivity.
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