Ranging correlated motion (1.5 nm) of two coaxially arranged rotors mediated by helix inversion of a supramolecular transmitter

For a long-range transmission of motion between two movable parts apart from each other, transmitters that can precisely correlate these two motions should be properly incorporated into the system. However, such a motional relay is yet to be realized in artificial systems because of the lack of reliable methodologies for arranging a discrete number of motional parts. Herein, we report a correlated motion of two rotor molecules, which are coaxially arranged at a distance of 1.5 nm, through either Ag+- or Hg2+-assembled helical transmitters, leading to different frequencies of synchronized motion. A helix inversion in the transmitter was proven to strongly correlate the motions of both terminals. The X-ray analysis of the entity determined a quadruple-decker nonanuclear structure of the metal complex comprising two terminal rotor-like ligands closely attached to a central transmitter moiety. H-1 NMR analysis fully demonstrated the synchronized motion of the two rotors coaxially stacked and connected through the transmitter. Since the transmitter is composed of simple helical repeating units, the principle of helix inversion would be an efficient and widely applicable strategy for the long-range transmission of molecular motion.