Paracetamol Inclusion in Mechanically Interlocked Nanocages

Abstract

The solid‐state synthesis and fast crystallization under kinetic control of poly‐[n]‐catenanes self‐assembled of mechanically interlocked metal organic cages (MOCs) is virtually unexplored. This is in part, due to the lack of suitable crystals for single crystal X‐ray diffraction (SC‐XRD) analysis which limits their progress as advanced functional materials. Here we report the inclusion of paracetamol in the cavities of amorphous materials constituted of M12L8, interlocked MOCs synthesized by mechanochemistry (solid‐state) under kinetic control. Full structure determination of a low‐crystallinity and low‐resolution powders of the M12L8 poly‐[n]‐catenane including paracetamol is carried out combining XRD data and Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations using a multi‐step approach. Each M12L8 cage contains six paracetamol guests which is confirmed by thermal analysis and NMR spectroscopy. The paracetamol loading has been also carried out by the instant synthesis method using a saturated paracetamol solution in which TPB and ZnI2 self‐assemble immediately (i.e., 1–5 seconds) encapsulating ⁓7 paracetamol molecules in the M12L8 nanocages under kinetic control also giving a good selectivity. Benzaldehyde has been included in the M12L8 cages using amorphous M12L8 polycatenanes showing that the icosahedral cages can serve as potential nanoreactors for instance to study Henry reactions in the solid‐state.