Anion templated surface assembly of a redox-active sensory rotaxane

摘要

Anion templation is used to assemble novel redox-active bis-ferrocene functionalised rotaxane self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on to gold electrode surfaces; after template removal, the unique SAM rotaxane binding domain is capable of selectively sensing chloride ions electrochemically. Although mechanically bonded molecules such as rotaxanes and catenaries have enormous potential for use in applications based on nanometer-scale switching and motion, the unique topolo-gical cavities intrinsic to these interlocked structures also make them of great interest in the molecular sensing arena. In the majority of cases cationic and neutral species have been employed as efficient templates in mechanical bond construction. The application of anions to direct supramolecular assembly, however, remains largely under-developed.