Chiral Self-Sorting in Pd6L12 Metal-Organic Cages

Chiral self-sorting during the formation of cage-like molecules continues to fascinate and advance our understanding of the phenomenon in general. Herein, we report the chiral self-sorting in the Pd6L12-type metal-organic cages. When a racemic mixture of axially chiral bis-pyridyl ligands undergo coordination-driven self-assembly with Pd(II) ions to form Pd6L12-type cages, the system has the option of chiral self-sorting to afford any of at least 70 pairs of (one homochiral and 69 heterochiral) enantiomers and 5 meso isomers or a statistical mixture of everything. However, the system resulted in diastereoselective self-assembly through a high-fidelity chiral social self-sorting to form a racemic mixture of D-3 symmetric heterochiral [Pd-6(L-6R/6S)(12)](12+)/[Pd-6(L-6S/6R)(12)](12+) cages.

Automated summary

This study reports the chiral self-sorting phenomenon in Pd6L12-type metal-organic cages. When a racemic mixture of axially chiral bis-pyridyl ligands undergoes self-assembly with Pd(II) ions to form Pd6L12-type cages, the system can undergo chiral self-sorting, resulting in at least 70 pairs of enantiomers and 5 meso isomers or a statistical mixture. However, the system exhibited diastereoselective self-assembly through high-fidelity chiral social self-sorting, forming a racemic mixture of D-3 symmetric heterochiral cages.