An isolable catenane consisting of two Möbius conjugated nanohoops

Area of Science:

• Supramolecular Chemistry
• Organic Chemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• Möbius topology is mathematically significant and intriguing at the molecular level.
• Synthesizing stable Möbius-conjugated molecules and complex topologies remains challenging.
• Oligoparaphenylene-derived nanohoops are highly warped macrocycles with synthetic difficulties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report the efficient synthesis and characterization of a catenane with two Möbius topology nanohoops.
• To investigate the solid-state structure and theoretical properties of these Möbius nanohoops.
• To demonstrate that nanohoops can form complex interlocked structures and exhibit stable Möbius conformations.

Main Methods:

• Efficient chemical synthesis of the catenane structure.
• X-ray crystallography for crystal structure determination.
• Computational studies for theoretical analysis.

Main Results:

• Successful synthesis of a catenane comprising two fully conjugated nanohoops.
• Crystal structure confirmed the Möbius topology in the solid state.
• Theoretical studies supported the observed properties and stability.

Conclusions:

• Oligoparaphenylene-derived nanohoops are versatile building blocks for supermolecular structures.
• This work presents a new class of compounds with isolable Möbius conformations.
• Non-covalent interactions play a crucial role in stabilizing these molecular Möbius strips.