ABSTRACT
Helicates are defined as metallo-supramolecular coordination compounds in which linear ligands wrap around several metal ions in a helical fashion.1 The helicate term was introduced by J. M. Lehn in 1987,2 and from that point the chemistry of helicates became a prominent subdiscipline of supramolecular chemistry. Initially, helicates were considered simple model compounds explaining mechanistic aspects of self-assembly. Recently, special properties of the oligonuclear complexes became more important for developing novel materials based on the helicate motif.3
