One Ligand in Dual Roles: Self-Assembly of a Bis-Rhomboidal-Shaped, Three-Dimensional Molecular Wheel

A facile high yield, self‐assembly process that leads to a terpyridine‐based, three‐dimensional, bis‐rhomboidal‐shaped, molecular wheel is reported. The desired coordination‐driven supramolecular wheel involves eight structurally distorted tristerpyridine (tpy) ligands possessing a 60° angle between the adjacent tpy units and twelve Zn2+ ions. The tpy ligand plays dual roles in the self‐assembly process: two are staggered at 180° to create the internal hub, while six produce the external rim. The wheel can be readily generated by mixing the tpy ligand and Zn2+ in a stoichiometric ratio of 2:3; full characterization is provided by ESI‐MS, NMR spectroscopy, and TEM imaging. Two for the price of one! A facile, high yield self‐assembly process to a terpyridine‐based, three‐dimensional, bis‐rhomboidal‐shaped molecular wheel is reported. The desired coordination‐driven supramolecular wheel involves twelve Zn2+ ions and eight structurally distorted tristerpyridine (tpy) ligands, which play dual roles in the self‐assembly process: two are staggered at 180° to create the internal hub, while the other six produce the external rim.