Microtubule-kinetochore interactions

Since our first report on a zeolite-mimic coordination network in 1994, [1] we have developed several robust coordination network complexes possessing large pores.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] In some cases, the pore channels facilitate increased mobility and rapid diffusion of included guest molecules.Large organic molecules can easily enter into the pores via guest exchange.In this sense, the pore interior is a pseudo-solution state where chemical reactions may proceed as in a solution, yet can be directly analyzed by crystallography.Here, we show that single-crystal-to-single-crystal chemical reactions with large, common reagents proceed quite smoothly inside the pores of the network.[9]Taking advantage of the network's robust crystallinity, we succeeded in the acylation and ureidation of aromatic amines and imine formation from aromatic aldehydes within a single crystal.The pores of the network complexes thus serve as "crystalline molecular flasks".We also show a hemiaminal, a transient short-lived intermediate in the Schiff-base formation, can be trapped and directly observed by X-ray analysis in the crystalline molecular flasks.[10]