Hidden molecular code in tosyl groups directs pillararene formation and assembly, study finds

A research team at Mahidol University, Thailand, has discovered that tosyl groups, long regarded as routine synthetic handles, can actively guide the formation and behavior of pillararenes—a class of pillar-shaped macrocyclic molecules widely used in supramolecular chemistry. Their findings, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, reveal that these groups can act as a hidden "instruction code" that influences the organization of molecular components before bond formation and enables temperature-triggered switching accompanied by visible color changes.