Direct formation of single crystalline molecular clusters with disulfide bonding from thiol-containing triptycene derivatives

When a DMF solution of 1,8,13-trimercaptotriptycene is allowed to stand under an inert atmosphere, a single crystalline molecular cluster with disulfide bonding results. Likewise, several thiol-containing triptycene derivatives yield single crystalline disulfide-containing clusters with different structural patterns. One of these clusters featuring a densely arranged tetrapod-like disulfide moiety exhibits a particularly high refractive index of 1.75, much higher than that of the others, although the sulfur contents of these clusters are comparable. Graphical Abstract Three different types of single crystalline molecular clusters containing disulfide bonds were formed when a DMF solution of the corresponding thiol-containing triptycene was allowed to stand. Among them, the tetrapod cluster obtained from 1 exhibits a particularly high refractive index of 1.75, although the sulfur contents of these clusters are comparable to one another.