Structural characterisation methods for supramolecular chemistry that go beyond crystallography. (24th November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Geue, Niklas; Winpenny, Richard E. P.; Barran, Perdita E.
• Is Part Of: Chemical Society reviews. Volume 51:Number 1(2022)
• Page Start: 8
• Page End: 27
• Publication Date: 2021-11-24
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1039/d0cs01550d
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-0012

Abstract

Abstract : In this tutorial review, we present an introduction to structural characterisation techniques commonly used for non-crystalline supramolecular compounds and discuss their application based on recent case studies. Abstract : Supramolecular chemistry has grown rapidly over the past three decades, yet synthetic supramolecular chemists still face several challenges when it comes to characterising their compounds. In this review, we present an introduction to structural characterisation techniques commonly used for non-crystalline supramolecular molecules, e.g. nuclear magnetic and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR and EPR), mass spectrometry (MS), ion mobility mass spectrometry (IM-MS), small-angle neutron and X-ray scattering (SANS and SAXS) as well as cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM). We provide an overview of their fundamental concepts based on case studies from different fields of supramolecular chemistry, e.g. interlocked structures, molecular self-assembly and host–guest chemistry, while focussing on particular strengths and weaknesses of the discussed methods. Additionally, three multi-technique case studies are examined in detail to illustrate the benefits of using complementary techniques simultaneously.