Amide-Based Rotaxanes

The templated syntheses of amide-based rotaxanes discussed until now have made use of the threading-followed-by-capping method. However there are also examples in which the clipping approach has been employed. Leigh, for example, has used a five-component clipping method to prepare [2]rotaxanes. Isophthalamide and peptide-based threads were shown to template the formation of benzylic amide macrocycles about them in non-polar solvents [69, 70]. When the peptide-based threads (49) contain bulky stoppers at their ends, the [2]rotaxanes (50) can be prepared in high yields (see Scheme 24) [71]. 

Leigh DA, Venturini A, Wilson AJ, Wong JKY, Zerbetto F (2004) The mechanism of formation of amide-based interlocked compounds prediction of a new rotaxane-forming motif. Chem Eur J 10 4960 -969... 

The corresponding macrocycle, intended to be a host for carbon dioxide, was not detected, but was synthesized in 1996 by an elegant strategy via rotaxane formation (see Section 8.3, Amide-Based Rotaxanes) [25]. 

The sulfonamide macrocycle proved to be a hospitable template, and at the same time the sulfonamide functionality bears the possibility of farther derivatiza-tion of [2]rotaxanes (see Section 8.4 Chemistry with Amide-Based Catenanes and Rotaxanes). Furthermore the expansion of the cavity did not afford a change of the blocking group - no disassembly of wheel and axle was detected. 

Chemistry with Amide-Based Catenaries and Rotaxanes 205... 

Chemistry with Amide-Based Catenanes and Rotaxanes... 

The nonionic template strategy based on hydrogen bonds and to a certain extent on n-n interactions has made catenanes and rotaxanes readily available. The molecular recognition and self-organization process which is responsible for the formation of intertwined and interlocked structures is founded upon the same weak interactions that govern many biological processes. Amide-based catenanes and rotaxanes can thus serve as valuable models for complex molecular recognition patterns in nature. 

The latest findings of amide-based rotaxanes focus on their chemistry and stereochemistry. The optical properties of an axle bearing chiral glucose stoppers are significantly influenced by rotaxanation - Cotton effects are amplified and the maxima of the CD spectra are shifted bathochromically [71]. 

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