Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 42 , 665 (2003)

1. Rational Design of Supramolecular AssembliesKenneth N. Raymond, University of California at BerkeleyCHE- 0317011 A supramolecular assembly in which six bis-catecholate ligand edges span four gallium(III) vertices prepared by Professor Ken Raymond’s group exhibits a “structural memory". While the structure's ligands are achiral, the system retains its original chirality, even after a ligand is replaced. In previous chiral supramolecular clusters, the assemblies' chirality stemmed from chiral ligands, which upon replacement with achiral components yielded a racemic mixture. This type of structure acts as a nanoscale flask, inside which guest molecules might react. The chiral structural memory could prove useful in the design of molecular-flask chiral catalysis. Clicking on the animated figure shows how distortion of the supramolecular flask can allow a molecule to exit without disassembling it. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 42, 665 (2003)