Chemical and Constitutional Influences in the Self-Assembly of Functional Supramolecular Hydrogen-Bonded Nanoscopic Fibres

Driving force balance-the "identity card" of supramolecules in a self-sorting multicomponent assembly system

Contrary to the popular belief that multicomponent assembly systems will theoretically co-assemble under the same type of driving forces, two distinct assembly modes from a system composed of two chemically similar supramolecules were demonstrated in this work. Although with exactly the same driving forces, molecule-level self-sorting unexpectedly occurred in this two-component system made of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) core-based supramolecules with one and eight lysine derivative arms. From the experiments, it was concluded that instead of driving force types, driving force counterpoise plays a vital role here, which we called "identity card hypothesis". The hypothesis suggests that two highly similar components show high affinity for the same molecules through the differentiated "identity card"-like balance of driving forces induced by the difference in the molecular spatial shape, which has never been reported before.

Binuclear alkynylplatinum(ii) terpyridine complexes with flexible bridges behave as organogelators for several organic solvents

New binuclear alkynylplatinum(ii) terpyridyl complexes with flexible bridges have been synthesized and characterized by ¹H NMR, mass spectra and elemental analysis.

Gel properties of T-shaped tetrathiafulvalene–pyridazine conjugates and F4TCNQ-induced morphological transformation

T-shaped organic π-conjugates and their F₄TCNQ charge-transfer (CT) complexes are developed as LMOGs. The morphological changes of the organogels occur obviously due to the CT interaction.

Diarmed (adamantyl/alkyl) surfactants from nitrilotriacetic acid

The compounds presented here constitute a clear example of molecular biomimetics as their design is inspired on the structure and properties of natural phospholipids. Thus novel double-armed surfactants have been obtained in which nitrilotriacetic acid plays the role of glycerol in phospholipids. The hydrophobic arms are linked to the head group through amide bonds (which is also the case of sphingomyelin): (R1NHCOCH2)(R2NHCOCH2)NCH2CO2H (R1 being CH3(CH2)11, CH3(CH2)17, CH3(CH2)7CHCH(CH2)8, and adamantyl, and R2=adamantyl). The dependence of the surface tension with concentration shows the typical profile of surfactants since a breaking point, which corresponds to the critical aggregation concentration (cac), is observed in all cases. The cac of these diarmed derivatives are about 1-3 orders of magnitude lower than those of classical monoalkyl derivatives used as reference compounds. In contrast to conventional surfactants, reversed trends in cac values and molecular areas at the solution-air interface have been observed. This anomalous behavior is tied to the structure of the surfactants and suggests that long and flexible alkyl chains should self-coil previous to the aggregation or adsorption phenomena. Above cac all compounds form large aggregates, globular in shape, which tend to associate forming giant aggregates.

Hierarchical growth of curved organic nanowires upon evaporation induced self-assembly

Hierarchical growth of multilayers and complex curved nanostructures including nanospirals and concentric nanorings upon evaporation of a solution.

Central metal ion determined self-assembly of intrinsically chiral porphyrins

The aggregation of a tetraaryl-porphyrin with chiral amide-containing side groups depends critically on the central metal ion in the tetrapyrrolic core, an effect shown dramatically in solution as well as in the gel formation by the compounds. In solution, the circular dichroism (CD) spectra of the metalloporphyrins show that they all aggregate to some degree, and in most cases the aggregates of the metal-containing species is more favored than the parent free-base porphyrin. The compound which shows the greatest optical activity is the zinc(II) porphyrin which forms a J-aggregate with large Cotton effects in the CD spectrum. Infrared spectroscopy revealed that this aggregate is favored by interaction of the amide oxygen atom with the zinc(II) ion at the core of the porphyrin. The other metalloporphyrins, containing divalent copper, cobalt, and palladium or manganese(III) acetate all show CD activity, and all but the cobalt compound form gels in hexane or cyclohexane. The morphology of the xerogels formed after evaporation of the solvent from these gels depend greatly on the metal ion, with only the copper porphyrin — which shows a clear H-aggregate in solution — having a fibrous morphology

Synthesis and physical gelation induced by self-assembly of well-defined poly(arylene ether sulfone)s with various numbers of arms

Synthesis of poly(arylene ether sulfone)s with various numbers of arms by chain-growth polycondensation and physical gelation induced by self-assembly.

Tuning the supramolecular chirality of one- and two-dimensional aggregates with the number of stereogenic centers in the component porphyrins

A synthetic strategy was developed for the preparation of porphyrins containing between one and four stereogenic centers, such that their molecular weights vary only as a result of methyl groups which give the chiral forms. The low-dimensional nanoscale aggregates of these compounds reveal the profound effects of this varying molecular chirality on their supramolecular structure and optical activity. The number of stereogenic centers influences significantly the self-assembly and chiral structure of the aggregates of porphyrin molecules described here. A scanning tunneling microscopy study of monolayers on graphite shows that the degree of structural chirality with respect to the surface increases almost linearly with the number of stereogenic centers, and only one handedness is formed in the monolayers, whereas the achiral compound forms a mixture of mirror-image domains at the surface. In solution, four hydrogen bonds induce the formation of an H-aggregate, and circular dichroism measurements and theoretical studies indicate that the compounds self-assemble into helical structures. Both the chirality and stability of the aggregates depend critically on the number of stereocenters. The chiral porphyrin derivatives gelate methylcyclohexane at concentrations dependent on the number and position of chiral groups at the periphery of the aromatic core, reflecting the different aggregation forces of the molecules in solution. Increasing the number of stereogenic centers requires more material to immobilize the solvent, in all likelihood because of the greater solubility of the porphyrins. The vibrational circular dichroism spectra of the gels show that all compounds have a chiral environment around the amide bonds, confirming the helical model proposed by calculations. The morphologies of the xerogels (studied by scanning electron microscopy and scanning force microscopy) are similar, although more fibrous features are present in the molecules with fewer stereogenic centers. Importantly, the presence of only one stereogenic center, bearing a methyl group as the desymmetrizing ligand, in a molecule of considerable molecular weight is enough to induce single-handed chirality in both the one- and two-dimensional supramolecular self-assembled structures.

Facile preparation of concentration-gradient materials with radical spin of the mixed-valence tetrathiafulvalene in conventional polymer films

We describe here the facile methods for the stepwise regulation of the formation of tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) radical cation and the self-assembly to the mixed-valence state of TTF in various polymer films. The homogeneous polymer composites containing TTF and (1R)-3,3-dimethylbicyclo[2.2.1]hepta-2-one-1-triflate as a photoinduced acid generator in several kinds of conventional polymers were prepared, and the phototriggered conversion of TTF to radical cation via protonation in the films was executed. The amount of the TTF radical species can be controlled by the length of UV-irradiation time to the polymer composite films. In addition, the formation of the mixed-valence TTF can be observed in the composite films by annealing after UV irradiation when the glass transition temperature of the matrices was sufficiently higher than the reaction temperature during the photoirradiation. Finally, we presented the facile patterning method for preparing the composite with the concentration gradient of TTF radical and the mixed-valence TTF.

Photoinduced radical generation and self-assembly of tetrathiafulvalene into the mixed-valence state in the poly(vinyl chloride) film under UV irradiation

The photoinduced self-assembly and the formation of the mixed-valence state of tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) in the solid state are reported. The polymer composites containing TTF in poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) were prepared, and oxidation of TTF by chlorine radical generated by UV irradiation in PVC was investigated. The formation of the mixed-valence state of TTF in the composite films by UV irradiation was observed, and the resulting TTF radical species, including the mixed-valence state after the photopatterning, exhibited extremely high stability in the composite films. Finally, we performed the fabrication of the gradient materials of the radical concentrations on the TTF/PVC composites with the photopatterning.

Assembly of functional molecular nanostructures on surfaces

This tutorial review discusses different techniques for the preparation and deposition on surfaces of organic nanostructures--monolayers, nanowires, nano-dots and other aggregates--with emphasis on the key role that chemical design and non-covalent interactions (between molecules themselves and molecules and surface) play in the definition of the final structure and its properties. The characterisation of the nanostructures and the important effects of post-deposition treatment are also touched upon. The tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) unit is used as the example to demonstrate the general principles that are applicable for these different nanoscale architectures, because of the interest of this family of compounds in molecular electronics.

Influence of Intermolecular Interactions on the Formation of Tetra(carbomethoxy)-tetrathiafulvalene Assemblies

We study the assemblies that tetra(carbomethoxy)tetrathiafulvalene (TCM-TTF) forms in solution and when deposited on a surface depending on intermolecular interactions and on the interactions with the substrate and the solvent. Its organization on graphite and mica substrates was studied by atomic force microscopy, and different molecular assemblies were observed depending on the prevailing interactions. The promotion of molecule-molecule interactions gave rise to the formation of molecular fibers. The investigation of the influence of the solvent-molecule interactions on TCM-TTF molecular organizations was carried out by UV/Vis spectroscopy, and a new TCM-TTF polymorph was obtained by changing the nature of the solvent. Finally, an explanation for all these phenomena, supported by computational modeling, is put forward.