Circular serendipity: in situ ligand transformation for the self-assembly of an hexadecametallic [CuII16] wheel†
Abstract
A [CuII16] wheel was isolated serendipitously from the reaction of acetylacetone dioxime with copper(II) chloride and lanthanide ions in a reaction initially designed to produce heterometallic 3d–4f cages. The ligand has been transformed in situ to three different forms, all found within the [Cu16] wheel, with the original ligand completely absent.