Studies of hybrid organic-inorganic [2] and [3]rotaxanes bound to Au surfaces

Hybrid organic-inorganic [2]- and [3]rotaxanes have been synthesised, and their ability to bind to Au surfaces studied; the length of the tethering group is found to control how the supramolecular assembly binds to the surface and we find that [2]rotaxanes show improved stability over previous studies of simple inorganic rings.