Aqueous Three-Component Self-Assembly of a Pseudo[1]rotaxane Using Hydrazone Bonds

We present herein the synthesis of a new polycationic pseudo[1]­rotaxane, self-assembled in excellent yield through hydrazone bonds in aqueous media of three different aldehyde and hydrazine building blocks. A thermodynamically controlled process has been studied sequentially by analyzing the [1 + 1] reaction of a bisaldehyde and a trishydrazine leading to the macrocyclic part of the system, the ability of this species to act as a molecular receptor, the conversion of a hydrazine-pending cyclophane into the pseudo[1]­rotaxane and, lastly, the one-pot [1 + 1 + 1] condensation process. The latter was found to smoothly produce the target molecule through an integrative social self-sorting process, a species that was found to behave in water as a discrete self-inclusion complex below 2.5mM concentration and to form supramolecular aggregates in the 2.5–70mM range. Furthermore, we demonstrate how the abnormal kinetic stability of the hydrazone bonds on the macrocycle annulus can be advantageously used for the conversion of the obtained pseudo[1]­rotaxane into other exo-functionalized macrocyclic species.