Spiralling steroids; organic crystals with asymmetric nanometer-scale channels

A. L. Sisson, V. del Amo Sanchez, G. Magro, A. M. E. Griffin, S. Shah, J. P. H. Charmant, A. P. Davis*

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2005, 44, 6878-6881

Abstract

Crystals with broad robust channels are rare, especially if self-assembled without the aid of metal ions. Three such crystals were prepared based on a common steroid motif. The channels formed are chiral, directional, aligned, and wide enough (>1 nm) to accept a variety of guests (see picture; red: oxygen, blue: nitrogen, green: fluorine).