One Ligand in Dual Roles: Self-Assembly of a Bis-Rhomboidal-Shaped, Three-Dimensional Molecular Wheel

A facile high yield, self-assembly process that leads to a terpyridine-based, three-dimensional, bis-rhomboidal-shaped, molecular wheel is reported. The desired coordination-driven supramolecular wheel involves eight structurally distorted tristerpyridine (tpy) ligands possessing a 608 angle between the adjacent tpy units and twelve Zn2+ ions. The tpy ligand plays dual roles in the self-assembly process: two are staggered at 1808 to create the internal hub, while six produce the external rim. The wheel can be readily generated by mixing the tpy ligand and Zn2+ in a stoichiometric ratio of 2: 3; full characterization is provided by ESI-MS, NMR spectroscopy, and TEM imaging