A Circularly Arranged Sextuple Triptycene Gear Molecule

Herein
we report the synthesis of a circularly arranged sextuple
triptycene gear molecule, hexakis­(10-dodecyloxy-9-triptycyl)­ethynylbenzene,
via the trimerization of the corresponding triyne with a cobalt catalyst.
The six triptycene gears are closely engaged with each other as confirmed
by single crystal X-ray structure analysis, and their motion in solution
was established by NMR spectroscopy. Notably, when one bulky RuCp*
complex was attached to one triptycene gear, the whole movement of
the six gears was highly restricted via their mechanical engagement.
Development of such a multigear molecule would provide a structural
basis for molecular motion transmission systems with a switching function.