Mechanically Chiral Rotaxanes in Catalysis, Sensing and Materials

In this project Arnau will study the enantioselectivity of interlocked chiral catalysts in which the mechanical bond provides the sole stereogenic unit to demonstrate the synthetic potential of these systems. To do this he will synthesise a series of chiral rotaxanes and catenanes bearing catalytic functional groups and study their behaviour in well understood catalytic reactions. The long term applications of these systems is in the synthesis of chiral molecules for medical and materials science.