A Hierarchical Self-Assembly System Built Up from Preorganized Tripodal Helical Metal Complexes

The hierarchical organization strategy
has realized elaborate supramolecular
structures that are difficult to achieve by a one-pot thermodynamically
driven self-assembly. Self-assembly via Schiff base formation of the
preorganized tripodal helical unit 22+, which
is composed of the tris­(bipyridyl) ligand 1 and octahedral
metal ion (RuII and FeII), lead to two supramolecular
structures, i.e., a macrobicyclic dimer and an interlocked helicate.
Notably, the interlocked helicate had a unique motif with an elongated
shape (∼58 Å) and linearly aligned metal centers with
homochiral configurations (all-Δ or all-Λ), which shows
potential for allosteric regulation based on the long-range transmittance
of the structural information.