Guest‐Directed Navigation of a Ligand Conformational Landscape Enables Palladium‐Organic Cage–Bowl–Helicate Interconversion

ABSTRACT Biological systems regulate molecular function by reshaping conformational energy landscapes in response to external stimuli. Translating this principle into artificial supramolecular systems remains challenging, particularly when multiple structurally distinct states must be accessed using a single class of stimulus. Here, we report a conformationally adaptive ligand L comprising two 2,4,6‐tris(4‐pyridyl)‐1,3,5‐triazine (TPT) panels connected by a conformationally flexible 3,3′‐disubstituted biphenyl spacer. Coordination of L with (en)Pd(II) affords a discrete Pd 4 L 2 cage 1 . Distinct guests redirect the assembly landscape along divergent pathways: 6‐methylcoumarin ( G1 ) induces the bowl‐shaped Pd 4 L 2 complex ( G1 ) 4 ⊂ 2 , whereas 1‐adamantanol ( G2 ) selects the Pd 6 L 3 triple‐stranded helicate ( G2 ) 8 ⊂ 3 . Cage 1 , bowl 2 , and helicate 3 correspond to trans‐/cis‐, cis‐/cis‐, and cis‐/trans‐ combinations of the biphenyl spacer and TPT‐panel orientations, respectively. Guest‐exchange experiments reveal path‐dependent interconversion: G1 converts helicate 3 toward a mixture of cage 1 and bowl 2 , whereas guest removal restores cage 1 , enabling G2 to redirect it back to helicate 3 . Thus, the system can be precisely navigated among cage, bowl, and helicate architectures solely through guest addition, removal, and exchange. A 4,4′‐biphenyl‐linked analogue shows no comparable conversion. These results establish a guest‐addressable three‐state self‐assembly landscape in which distinct combinations of ligand cis‐/trans‐ conformations encode divergent supramolecular architectures.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Published
2026-11-11
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.8018415
Primary Topic
Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
article

Guest‐Directed Navigation of a Ligand Conformational Landscape Enables Palladium‐Organic Cage–Bowl–Helicate Interconversion

Xuefeng Tan, Chen‐chen Li, Pei‐Ming Cheng, Qing‐Fu Sun et al.
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes
article

Guest‐Directed Navigation of a Ligand Conformational Landscape Enables Palladium‐Organic Cage–Bowl–Helicate Interconversion

Xuefeng Tan, Chen‐chen Li, Pei‐Ming Cheng, Qing‐Fu Sun, Li‐Xuan Cai, Li‐Peng Zhou, X S Guo
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Biological systems regulate molecular function by reshaping conformational energy landscapes in response to external stimuli. Translating this principle into artificial supramolecular systems remains challenging, particularly when multiple structurally distinct states must be accessed using a single class of stimulus. Here, we report a conformationally adaptive ligand L comprising two 2,4,6‐tris(4‐pyridyl)‐1,3,5‐triazine (TPT) panels connected by a conformationally flexible 3,3′‐disubstituted biphenyl spacer. Coordination of L with (en)Pd(II) affords a discrete Pd 4 L 2 cage 1 . Distinct guests redirect the assembly landscape along divergent pathways: 6‐methylcoumarin ( G1 ) induces the bowl‐shaped Pd 4 L 2 complex ( G1 ) 4 ⊂ 2 , whereas 1‐adamantanol ( G2 ) selects the Pd 6 L 3 triple‐stranded helicate ( G2 ) 8 ⊂ 3 . Cage 1 , bowl 2 , and helicate 3 correspond to trans‐/cis‐, cis‐/cis‐, and cis‐/trans‐ combinations of the biphenyl spacer and TPT‐panel orientations, respectively. Guest‐exchange experiments reveal path‐dependent interconversion: G1 converts helicate 3 toward a mixture of cage 1 and bowl 2 , whereas guest removal restores cage 1 , enabling G2 to redirect it back to helicate 3 . Thus, the system can be precisely navigated among cage, bowl, and helicate architectures solely through guest addition, removal, and exchange. A 4,4′‐biphenyl‐linked analogue shows no comparable conversion. These results establish a guest‐addressable three‐state self‐assembly landscape in which distinct combinations of ligand cis‐/trans‐ conformations encode divergent supramolecular architectures.

Angewandte Chemie International Edition
City University of Hong Kong (HK), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), State Key Laboratory of Structural Chemistry (CN)
Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.

Laika access coming soon