Rotaxanes as ligands for transition metals

Mechanically interlocked molecules (MIMs) have been attracting increasing interest since their emergence in the 1960s. The development of passive template and active template synthetic approaches facilitated the rapid growth in synthesis of various functionalised mechanically interlocked molecules (MIMs), allowing for a wide range of applications. In this thesis, Chapter 1 will discuss the synthetic methodologies from earliest statistical methods to passive templates and the latest active templates. Amongst the active template methodologies, the Cu catalysed alkyne azide cycloaddition (AT-CuAAC), together with its introduction, mechanistic studies as well as its application in syntheses of various functionalised rotaxanes will be presented. Chapter 2 will illustrate the discovery of an unexpected dinuclear Cu(I) complex during the investigation of an AT-CuAAC reaction and its selective demetallation. Chapter 3 highlights the important role of the mechanical geometry on stabilising a Pt(II) centre in ligand substitution reactions and oxidation reactions. Finally, Chapter 4 reports the synthesis of two Pt based chiral rotaxanes where the ultimate aim is to investigate these complexes as emitters of circularly polarized light (CPL) for OLED applications.