Evolution of the hydrogen-bonding motif in the melamine-cyanuric acid co-crystal: a topological study

Co-assembly-Directed Enhancement of the Thermochromic Reversibility and Solvatochromic Selectivity of Supramolecular Polydiacetylene

The construction of functional materials via the co-assembly of multimolecular systems has recently emerged as a fascinating topic. The co-assembled multicomponent could promote the evolution of supramolecular assemblies into a high-order nanoarchitecture with improved functional properties. We report the successful preparation of a dual-functional polydiacetylene (MCPDA-Tz-CA) having thermochromic and solvatochromic properties via facile co-assembly of MCDA-Tz and cyanuric acid (MCDA-Tz-CA) followed by ultraviolet-induced polymerization. Molecular packing patterns from powder X-ray diffraction and density functional theory calculations of molecular self-assembly processes confirm highly ordered co-assembled lamellar structures. MCPDA-Tz-CA showed excellent reversible thermochromism properties when the temperature was increased from 30 to 150 °C with a reversible blue-to-red color transition that could be detected by the naked eye. Also, MCPDA-Tz-CA displayed selective blue-to-red solvatochromism against dimethylformamide and dimethyl sulfoxide. Detailed investigations revealed that the enhanced thermochromic reversibility and solvatochromic selectivity could be attributed to the hydrogen-bonding interactions and the formation of a network structure in the MCDA-Tz/cyanuric acid co-assembly. Our research opens a promising route for improving the performance of functional materials via noncovalent multicomponent arrangements at the molecular level.

Combining Coordination and Hydrogen Bonds to Develop Discrete Supramolecular Metalla-Assemblies

In Nature, metal ions play critical roles at different levels, and they are often found in proteins. Therefore, metal ions are naturally incorporated in hydrogen-bonded systems. In addition, the combination of metal coordination and hydrogen bonds have been used extensively to develop supramolecular materials. However, despite this win-win combination between coordination and hydrogen bonds in many supramolecular systems, the same combination remains scarce in the field of coordination-driven self-assemblies. Indeed, as illustrated in this mini-review, only a few discrete supramolecular metalla-assemblies combining coordination and hydrogen bonds can be found in the literature, but that figure might change rapidly.

Impact of confinement in multimolecular inclusion compounds of melamine and cyanuric acid

Supramolecular cavities can be found in clathrates and self-assembling capsules. In these computational experiments, we studied the effect of folding planar hydrogen-bonded supramolecules of melamine (M) and cyanuric acid (CA) into stable cage-like quartets. Based on dispersion-corrected density functional theory calculations at the ωB97XD/6-311++G(d,p) level, we show the flexibility of M and CA molecules to form free confined spaces. Our bonding analysis indicates that only CA can form a cage, which is more stable than its planar systems. We then studied the capacity of the complexes to host ionic and neutral monoatomic species like Na+, Cl- and Ar. The encapsulation energies range from -2 to -65 kcal mol-1. A detailed energy decomposition analysis (EDA) supports the fact that the triazine ring of CA is superior to the M one for capturing chloride ions. In addition, the EDA and the topology of the electron density, by means of the Atoms in Molecules (AIM) theory and electrostatic potential maps, reveal the nature of the host-guest interactions in the confined space. The CA cluster appears to be the best multimolecular inclusion compound because it can host the three species and keep its cage structure, and therefore it could also act as a dual receptor of the ionic pair Na+Cl-. We think these findings could inspire the design of new heteromolecular inclusion compounds based on triazines and hydrogen bonds.

Insights into the self-assembly steps of cyanuric acid toward rosette motifs: a DFT study

The nature of non-covalent interactions in self-assembling systems is a topic that has aroused great attention in literature. In this field, the 1,3,5-triazinane-2,4,6-trione or cyanuric acid (CA) is one of the most widely used molecules to formulate self-assembled materials or monolayers. In the present work, a variety of molecular aggregates of CA are examined using three different DFT functionals (B3LYP, B3LYP-D3, and ω-B97XD) in the framework of the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) and natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. Herein, a step by step aggregation path is proposed and the origin of cooperative effects is also examined. It is shown that a greater cooperativity is not always associated with a greater binding energy, and the greatest cooperative effect occurs with highly directional hydrogen bonds. The intramolecular charge transfers play a key role in this effect. Graphical abstract The noncovalent interactions in cyanuric acid supramolecules were analyzed. The calculations provide insights into the self-assembly steps from dimers to rosette-like motif. The complexes with collinear hydrogen bonds show positive cooperativity, while in the arrangement with double hydrogen bonds the cooperative effect is essentially zero.