Successfully developed molecules joined by mechanical bonds.

A group of British scientists has developed a new group of molecules that can be joined together by a tight mechanical connection instead of being connected by chemical bonds.

Scientists have named these novel molecular groups' ' alkanes ' -' suitanes ' based on whether they resemble a ' part ' of a person with two or more 'chi' ( link) and wear a baby 'instant overalls '. The number of associated branches of the compound is indicated by adding numbers to the name of the compound - for example, an suit [2] ane tells us that this compound has 2 branches, one suit [3] ane has 3 branches. and the suit [4] ane has 4 branches. A 5-branch suitane looks like a doll dressed in a pair of instant overalls, including 5 linked parts: 2 legs, 2 hands and a head.

Some water molecules (Photo: watershot)

Leading the research is scientist James Fraser Stoddart (University of California, Los Angeles) and chemistry emeritus professor David Williams (Imperial College, London). The team has successfully synthesized a representative representative of the simplest type of this compound: suit [2] ane.

First , they used a specialized software to attack the molecule to test its durability. The internal molecule - that is, the ' body ' - must be a bit hard, rectangular and the chain of alkanes must consist of flexible molecules that can be assembled around the ' body ' part of a few branches. head. Like a cleverly sewed suit, all of those individual compounds must be perfectly interconnected in shape, size and functional group.

Initially, the researchers created a hard, straight molecular frame: a small center (an aromatic ring in the center) attached to two bulging ' shoulders ' (anthracene chain system), each with a shoulder. 'in turn connected to the molecular ' arm ' .

Next , the molecule is assembled into the alkaline chain and the alkane chain is in turn added and finally " stitched " to be able to bind together: during self-aligning molecules, 2 ring molecules Large benzene (or 5-sided ether shaped molecule) attaches to the molecule as if connecting sleeves to the ' arm '. The upper body, arms, and molecular sleeve have chemical bonds to support the grip of the molecular sleeve.

Next step , add another smaller molecule (aromatic ring). Each of these molecules contains 2 groups of atoms (amino groups), and are placed in a suitable bonding position for the whole molecule; Each of these molecules is designed to enter the molecular bonding force together and bind to 1 point on each wing of the molecular sleeve.

In the final step, establish chemical bonds at these 4 contact points; therefore the aromatic ring connects two molecular arms with a bulky single molecule, this bulky molecule is completely attached to the upper part of the molecule without connecting by chemical bonds.

Stoddart, an adult in Scotland, said: ' Exploring how to connect a molecule to another molecule is the first step to building artificial systems such as living cells. And the idea for the name of this novel compound came when I watched my son wear a pair of instant overalls called onesie, an American word I never heard before. '

Onesie is an instant overalls for babies or babies.

The study was published in the German journal Angewandte Chemie this month.