Mimicking nature’s stereoselectivity through coordination cages

Abstract

Emulating biology’s recognition properties is challenging yet critical for unlocking innovative solutions in medicine, biotechnology, and materials science. In this issue of Chem, Jonathan R. Nitschke, Dawei Zhang, and co-workers report a series of tetrahedral cages formed by subcomponent self-assembly, which has proven to be highly effective in recognizing complex chiral molecules with exceptional stereoselectivity. Emulating biology’s recognition properties is challenging yet critical for unlocking innovative solutions in medicine, biotechnology, and materials science. In this issue of Chem, Jonathan R. Nitschke, Dawei Zhang, and co-workers report a series of tetrahedral cages formed by subcomponent self-assembly, which has proven to be highly effective in recognizing complex chiral molecules with exceptional stereoselectivity. Enantiopure FeII4L4 cages bind steroids stereoselectivelyLi et al.ChemApril 12, 2023In BriefThe preparation of new enantiopure tetrahedral cages enables the inclusion of steroids with high stereoselectivities. Subtle differences in cavity structure between cage enantiomers lead to major changes in guest binding affinity and even stoichiometry. Our work thus demonstrates how control over host handedness serves as a useful means to gauge and tune the binding of information-rich guests with complex stereochemistries. It also provides insight into how natural stereoselective receptors work and has implications for designing new cage-mediated asymmetric transformations and chemical purification methods. Full-Text PDF Open Access