Switchable intermolecular communication in a four-fold rotaxane

Abstract

Firmly tied: A four-fold rotaxane was prepared from a porphyrin unit with four alkylammonium chains and a phthalocyanine unit with four peripheral crown ethers. In a dinuclear Cu 2+ complex of the four-fold rotaxane, the Cu 2+-porphyrin and the Cu 2+-phthalocyanine moieties were stacked efficiently on one another to afford spin-spin communication. The spin states were switched reversibly (see picture). Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.