A Circularly Arranged Sextuple Triptycene Gear Molecule

Herein we report the synthesis of a circularly arranged sextuple triptycene gear molecule, hexakis(10-dodecyloxy-9-triptycyl)ethynylbenzene, via the trimerization of the corresponding triyne with a cobalt catalyst. The six triptycene gears are closely engaged with each other as confirmed by single crystal X-ray structure analysis, and their motion in solution was established by NMR spectroscopy. Notably, when one bulky RuCp* complex was attached to one triptycene gear, the whole movement of the six gears was highly restricted via their mechanical engagement. Development of such a multigear molecule would provide a structural basis for molecular motion transmission systems with a switching function.