AUTHOR=Fang Qingqing , Xu Yan , Yan Xiaosheng , Jiang Tao , Jiang Yunbao TITLE=Synthetic approaches to metal-coordination-directed macrocyclic complexes JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry VOLUME=10 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2022.1078432 DOI=10.3389/fchem.2022.1078432 ISSN=2296-2646 ABSTRACT=

Metal-coordination-directed macrocyclic complexes, in which macrocyclic architectures are formed by metal-ligand coordination interactions, have emerged as attractive supramolecular scaffolds for the creation of materials for applications in biosensing and therapeutics. Despite recent progress, uncontrolled multicyclic cages and linear oligomers/polymers is the most likely outcome from metal-ligands assembly, representing a challenge to current synthetic methods. Herein we outlined the state-of-art synthetic approaches to the metal-coordination-directed macrocyclic complexes by using foldable ligands or through assembly of amphiphilic ligands. This mini-review offers a guideline for the efficient preparation of metal-coordination-directed macrocyclic complexes with predictable and controllable structures, which may find applications in many biology-related areas.