Templates are widely used to arrange molecular components so they can be covalently linked into complex molecules that are not readily accessible by classical synthetic methods. Nature uses sophisticated templates such as the ribosome, whereas chemists use simple ions or small molecules. But as we tackle the synthesis of larger targets, we require larger templates-which themselves become synthetically challenging. Here we show that Vernier complexes can solve this problem: if the number of binding sites on the template, n(T), is not a multiple of the number of binding sites on the molecular building blocks, n(B), then small templates can direct the assembly of relatively large Vernier complexes where the number of binding sites in the product, n(P), is the lowest common multiple of n(B) and n(T) (refs 8, 9). We illustrate the value of this concept for the covalent synthesis of challenging targets by using a simple six-site template to direct the synthesis of a 12-porphyrin nano-ring with a diameter of 4.7 nm, thus establishing Vernier templating as a powerful new strategy for the synthesis of large monodisperse macromolecules.

When light is absorbed by a nanoring consisting of 6–24 porphyrin units, the excitation delocalizes over the whole molecule within 200 fs. Highly symmetric nanorings exhibit thermally enhanced super-radiance.

Small alterations to the structure of a star-shaped template totally change its mode of operation. The hexapyridyl template directs the conversion of a porphyrin dimer to the cyclic hexamer, but deleting one pyridine site changes the product to the cyclic decamer, while deleting two binding sites changes the product to the cyclic octamer. This surprising switch in selectivity is explained by the formation of 2:1 caterpillar track complexes, in which two template wheels bind inside the nanoring. Caterpillar track complexes can also be prepared by binding the hexapyridyl template inside the 8- and 10-porphyrin nanorings. NMR exchange spectroscopy (EXSY) experiments show that these complexes exhibit correlated motion, in which the conrotatory rotation of the two template wheels is coupled to rotation of the nanoring track. In the case of the 10-porphyrin system, the correlated motion can be locked by binding palladium(II) dichloride between the two templates.

Dedicated to Professor Fraser Stoddart on the occasion of his 70th birthdayIngenious new template-directed strategies make it possible to synthesize an increasingly wide range of molecular architectures, which would otherwise be inaccessible. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Recently, we developed the concept of Vernier templating-the use of noncommensurate combinations of templates and building blocks to direct the formation of cyclic oligomers, such that the number of binding sites in the product is the lowest common multiple of the numbers of sites in the template and the starting material. [12d] This principle allows a small template to direct the formation of a much larger macrocycle. Previously, we illustrated this idea with the synthesis of a 12-porphyrin nanoring, c-P12, from a linear zinc porphyrin tetramer, l-P4, and a hexapyridyl template, T6.Here we report the synthesis of a 24-porphyrin ring, c-P24, by two Vernier-templated routes: a) coupling the linear porphyrin octamer l-P8 in the presence of hexapyridyl template T6, and b) coupling the linear porphyrin hexamer l-P6 in the presence of the octapyridyl template T8 (Scheme 1). The 24porphyrin nanoring can be prepared in yields of up to 25 %. It has a diameter of 10 nm, as confirmed by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and a molecular weight of 26 kDa, thus placing it in the size range of a typical protein. This flexible macrocycle can be locked into a planar p-conjugated conformation by the cooperative self-assembly of a 2:24 doublestrand complex with the linear diamine ligand 1,4diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO).The representation of the two routes to c-P24 in Scheme 1 overlooks the fact that complexes such as (l-P8) 3 ·(T6) 4 and c-P24·(T6) 4 have many possible isomers, as illustrated in Figure 1. However, the formation of these isomeric intermediates should not detract from the efficiency of the Vernier-templated synthesis, because removal of the template will convert all these isomers into the same c-P24 open ring (except for knotted structures, for example, Figure 1 d [13] ).Palladium-catalyzed oxidative coupling of the linear porphyrin octamer l-P8 [12a] in the presence of the hexapyridyl template T6 [12b,c] gave the expected product c-P24, together with the 16-porphyrin ring c-P16 [14] and linear polymers, all as complexes with T6. The polymeric by-products were removed Scheme 1. a) Vernier-templated synthesis of the nanoring c-P24. Reagents: 1) [PdCl 2 (PPh 3 ) 2 ], CuI, benzoquinone, iPr 2 NH; 2) pyridine. b) Structures of T6, T8, and c-P24; Ar = 3,5-bis(octyloxy)phenyl. Figure 1. Four examples of possible isomers of c-P24·(T6) 4 . [13]