Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

A radical departure for supramolecular chemistry

An experiment that challenged established dogma opened an entirely new avenue for research in the assembly and control of mechanically interlocked compounds.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Good things can happen when you bend the rules.

References

  1. Weidel, H. & Russo, M. Studien über das pyridin. Monatshefte für Chemie 3, 850–885 (1882).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Michaelis, L. & Hill, E. S. The viologen indicators. J. Gen. Physiol. 16, 859–873 (1933).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Hünig, S. & Berneth, H. in Organic Chemistry. Topics in Current Chemistry Vol. 92 (Springer, 1980).

  4. Kosower, E. M. & Cotter, J. L. Stable free radicals. II. The reduction of 1-methyl-4-cyanopyridinium ion to methylviologen cation radical. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 86, 5524–5527 (1964).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Trabolsi, A. et al. Radically enhanced molecular recognition. Nat. Chem. 2, 42–49 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ali Trabolsi.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Trabolsi, A. A radical departure for supramolecular chemistry. Nat Rev Chem 5, 442–443 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-021-00299-w

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-021-00299-w

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing