Lithium cations in a self-assembled electrostatic nanocapsule

Abstract

Cascade self-assembly of small components, without the employment of preformed hosts, yielded a {Ni₁₂Li₂} nanometric capsule with multiple endo- and exo-guests (water molecules, Li⁺, and Et₃NH⁺ cations) linked to selective hydrophilic and hydrophobic binding sites of Ni^II hexanuclear metallamacrocycles. The synthesis was achieved by using (Bu₄N)N₃ as a starting reagent instead of the conventional sodium azide to selectively introduce the Li⁺ cations.