A huge congratulations to Ivaylo Stoyanov, who, alongside his second-year undergraduate studies in Chemistry, has published his first scientific work in Angewandte Chemie!

Metal-Free Active Template Recognition: A Straightforward Route to Molecular Shuttle [2]Rotaxanes Containing Two Conjugated Molecular Stations within an Aminopyridinium Motif

Active template recognition is a strategy that enables the synthesis of rotaxanes devoid of formal recognition sites. Stabilization of the transition state by the macrocycle accelerates the formation of the molecular axle within the macrocyclic cavity, at the expense of the formation of the non-interlocked axle.

The SMART team demonstrated that this strategy can be used for the efficient synthesis of [2]rotaxanes through Aromatic Nucleophilic Substitution reactions involving an amine and pyridinium or acridinium derivatives in the presence of a crown ether.

Another original feature lies in the 4-aminopyridinium motif formed during the reaction. This motif is capable of interacting with the crown ether at two distinct yet conjugated regions, generating a molecular shuttle that undergoes small-amplitude translational motion.

Read the article : Ivaylo Stoyanov, Arie van der Lee, et Frédéric Coutrot*, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2026, e8134791

Equipe SMART – Supramolecular Machines and ARchitectures Team, Institut des Biomolécules Max Mousseron : www.glycorotaxane.com