Hard–Soft Cooperativity of an Allosteric Tweezer

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.3c02657
• Publication Date: 2023-09-25T19:43:55Z
• Authors: Suk-il Kang; Hyun Lee; Sungryul Bae; Dongwhan Lee
• Keywords: Cooperativity; Molecular tweezers; Cooperative binding; Zigzag

Drawing inspiration from allosteric proteins, a zigzag-shaped π-conjugation was structurally engineered into tweezer-like ionophore having multiple disparate binding sites. When soft metal ion binds to the central tridentate ligand motif, rigid backbone folds, bringing two macrocyclic arms close proximity. Stabilized by coordinating anion, conformation of resulting metalloligand recruits hard cation form sandwich-like complex with remarkably enhanced affinity and selectivity.