title: Self-assembly of molecular Borromean rings from bimetallic coordination rectangles.
abstract: In contrast to conventional stepwise synthesis of molecular Borromean rings, a self-assembly synthetic method which proceeds without the aid of a template has been developed. In the formation of molecular rectangles, by adjustment of the long-arm length of the rectangles, a series of size-dependent Borromean-link frameworks were constructed. Both the shortest length of two arms and the relative proportion of the length of the long arm to that of the short arm play a key role in the formation of Borromean rings. DFT calculations were used to provide theoretical support for the formation of discrete interlocked frameworks.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, 220 Handan road, Shanghai, 200433 (P. R. China).
authors.forename: Sheng-Li
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yue-Jian
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Zhen-Hua
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Guo-Xin
authors.initials: GX
authors.lastname: Jin
keywords: borromean rings; coordination compounds; density functional calculations; self-assembly; supramolecular chemistry