Aluminium nanorings: configuration deformation and structural transformation

Present herein is the first example of aluminium nanoring assembly by fatty acids. And the auxiliary alcohol sites can be modified either by monohydric alcohols (AlOC-33 to AlOC-35) or diols (AlOC-36 to AlOC-38). The monohydric alcohol modified ten-membered aluminium (Al-10) rings are coplanar, while the diol modified ones possess a saddle-shaped configuration. Interestingly, the diol modified Al-10 ring (AlOC-36) can convert into a coplanar ring (AlOC-33-B). AlOC-33-B possesses a similar molecular structure but a different supramolecular structure with AlOC-33. The structural transformation is confirmed to be a thermodynamically spontaneous process through density-functional theory (DFT) calculations.

Automated summary

This study presents the first example of aluminum nanoring assembly by fatty acids, showing that modification of auxiliary alcohol sites can lead to different ring configurations. Interestingly, the structural transformation is found to be a thermodynamically spontaneous process through density-functional theory (DFT) calculations.