Multilevel Molecular Electronic Species: Electrochemical Reduction of a
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to JM Lehn.
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Programmed chemical systems rest on the structural information stored in a molecular framework and on its reading and processing through non-covalent interactional algorithms to yield specific supramolecular entities. Beyond single-code self-assembly, which generates exclusively a single, specific superstructure, several codes may be implemented in the same overall program, thus opening the possibility to perform multiprogramming. Furthermore, the reading and processing of the same structural information through different interactional algorithms may lead to several different output entities, amounting to multiple expression of molecular information. Such features are revealed in the formation of double helicates, the assembly of metallosupramolecular architectures, and the differential reading of hydrogen bonding patterns in a molecular strand. They open novel perspectives within the framework of programmed chemical systems, concerning multiple processing capacity, and have intriguing implications from the biological point of view.
The multisubunit ligand 2 combines two complexation substructures known to undergo, with specific metal ions, distinct self-assembly processes to form a double-helical and a grid-type structure, respectively. The binding information contained in this molecular strand may be expected to generate, in a strictly predetermined and univocal fashion, two different, well-defined output inorganic architectures depending on the set of metal ions, that is, on the coordination algorithm used. Indeed, as predicted, the self-assembly of 2 with eight CuII and four CuI yields the intertwined structure D1. It results from a crossover of the two assembly subprograms and has been fully characterized by crystal structure determination. On the other hand, when the instructions of strand 2 are read out with a set of eight CuI and four MII (M = Fe, Co, Ni, Cu) ions, the architectures C1-C4, resulting from a linear combination of the two subprograms, are obtained, as indicated by the available physico-chemical and spectral data. Redox interconversion of D1 and C4 has been achieved. These results indicate that the same molecular information may yield different output structures depending on how it is processed, that is, depending on the interactional (coordination) algorithm used to read it. They have wide implications for the design and implementation of programmed chemical systems, pointing towards multiprocessing capacity, in a one code/ several outputs scheme, of potential significance for molecular computation processes and possibly even with respect to information processing in biology.
The linear oligo-isophthalamide strand 1 undergoes a conformational reorganization upon binding of a cyanuric acid template as effector to afford a helical disklike object possessing radially disposed alkyl residues. Solvophobic and stacking interactions, in turn, drive a "second level" self-assembly of the templated structure, the stacking of the helical disks, to yield fibers as revealed by electron microscopy. These data provide insight into the interplay of the different structural and interactional features of the molecular components towards the formation of supramolecular fibers through sequential hierarchical self-assembly events and suggest design strategies for the effector-controlled generation of related supramolecular assemblies.
Oriented crystalline monolayers, approximately 14 A thick, of a 2 x 2 Ag+ grid complex, self-assembled at the air-solution interface starting from an water-insoluble ligand 3,6-bis[2-(6-phenylpyridine)]pyridazine spread on silver-ion-containing solutions, were examined by grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction and specular X-ray reflectivity using synchrotron radiation. The monolayer structure was refined, including a determination of the positions of the counter-ions, with the SHELX-97 computer program. The monolayers were transferred from the interface onto various solid supports and visualized by scanning force microscopy, and characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in terms of molecular structure. On surface compression, the initial self-assembled monolayer undergoes a transition to a crystalline bilayer in which the two layers, almost retaining the original arrangement, are in registry. Such a phase transition is of relevance to the understanding of crystal nucleation.
The conformational information of an oligoheterocyclic strand containing a repeating pyridine - pyridazine codon self-organizes into a helical molecular unit, which subsequently self-assembles into helical fibers and macrofibers in dichloromethane and pyridine. The spontaneous formation of helical structures is based on a general self-organization process enforced by the conformational information encoded within the molecular strand itself.
Metallo-supramolecular systems have been adsorbed in a controlled way onto graphite surfaces and visualized with molecular resolution for the first time. A parallel or orthogonal arrangement of the metal coordination arrays is evident depending on the specific ligands (see picture). Furthermore, simple nanomanipulations were performed by extracting single grids from the layer.