Aluminium nanorings: configuration deformation and structural transformation

Present herein is the first example of aluminium nanoring assembly by fatty acids. And the auxiliary alcohol sites can be modified either by monohydric alcohols ( AlOC-33 to AlOC-35 ) or diols ( AlOC-36 to AlOC-38 ). The monohydric alcohol modified ten-membered aluminium (Al 10 ) rings are coplanar, while the diol modified ones possess a saddle-shaped configuration. Interestingly, the diol modified Al 10 ring ( AlOC-36 ) can convert into a coplanar ring ( AlOC-33-B ). AlOC-33-B possesses a similar molecular structure but a different supramolecular structure with AlOC-33 . The structural transformation is confirmed to be a thermodynamically spontaneous process through density-functional theory (DFT) calculations. Present herein is the first time that a fatty acid is employed in the assembly of aluminium wheels. Interestingly, a structural transformation between the diol modified and monohydric alcohol is discovered.