Supramolecular architectures of metal-organic host-guest compounds

The so-called "wheel and axle" compounds play an important role in the developing of supramolecular chemistry and there are a lot of studies dealing with their inclusion properties and host-guest chemistry. Classical "wheel and axle" molecules have a long, thin, central part (the axle) with two bulky ends (the wheels). Here, new compounds with host properties are described, that we called "wheel and axle metal-organic" diols (WAMOD), that are decorated with OH groups in the wheel. In particular, their clathration properties are discussed in connection with their crystal structures. A modular strategy is applied to obtain WAMODs: coordination chemistry is used together with soft interactions (H-bond, p-p interaction), with the aim to realize a dynamic framework that is able to reversibly capture and release a guest. The coordination bond is robust and permits to obtain WAMODs with different arrangements of the axle; the hydrogen bonds and/or the other soft interactions are responsible for the thin adjustments in the crystal packing that allow reversible adsorption/desorption of the guest.