High‐Yield Synthesis of Ester, Carbonate, and Acetal Rotaxanes by Anion Template Assistance and their Hydrolytic Dethreading

The key intermediate in the synthesis of ester, carbonate and acetal rotaxanes is a new supramolecular anionic template, which consists of a “wheeled” phenolate that acts as a supramolecular nucleophile in a threading reaction, with up to 81 % yield. One result of this synthetic concept is the shown rotaxane that contains probably the shortest axle centre part ever incorporated in a rotaxane.