Probing the structure of a rotaxane with two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy.

Larsen, Olaf F A; Bodis, Pavol; Buma, Wybren Jan; Hannam, Jeffrey S; Leigh, David A; Woutersen, Sander · Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · 2005

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Femtosecond 2D-IR spectroscopy has been used to study the structure of a [2]rotaxane composed of a benzylic amide macrocycle that is mechanically interlocked onto a succinamide-based thread. Both the macrocycle and the thread contain carbonyl groups, and by determining the coupling between the stretching modes of these groups from the cross-peaks in the 2D-IR spectrum, the structure of the macrocycle-thread system has been probed. Our results demonstrate that 2D-IR spectroscopy can be used to observe structural changes in molecular devices on a picosecond time scale.

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