Widely Applicable AIE Chemosensor for On-Site Fast Detection of Drugs Based on the POSS-Core Dendrimer with the Controlled Self-Assembly Mechanism

Monomer Emission Mechanism Research of Tetraphenylethene Derivative with Supramolecular Self-Assembly in Polymer Microspheres

The monomer emission property of the tetraphenylethene (TPE) derivative is rarely reported, and its photoluminescence (PL) mechanism related to supramolecular self-assembly needs further in-depth research. Two long alkyl chain modified derivatives, the TPE derivative (TPE-C10) and pyrene derivative (Pyrene-C10), are designed and synthesized, which possess similar supramolecular assembly behavior but exhibit different PL properties. TPE-C10 not only forms self-assembly morphologies with monomer emission but also emits aggregation-induced emission (AIE). Moreover, the polymer microspheres containing TPE-C10 and Pyrene-C10 are prepared, which can dissolve or swell in different organic solvents. The changed binding effect of polymer chains achieves the luminescence transformation of TPE-C10 from AIE to monomer emission. This work hopefully can enrich luminescent materials based on the monomer emission of the TPE derivative and provide a new method for mechanism studies about supramolecular self-assembly and luminescence.

Controllable chiral inversion via thioether bond-activated J- and H-aggregation transformation

Herein, thioether bonds in the peripheral groups of chiral dendrimer that could activate the transformation between J- and H-aggregation in π-systems and caused controllable chiral inversion are described. Furthermore, owing to the close-knit per-aggregation of dendrimers impeding the transfer of inherent molecular chirality, the inversed chirality could be memorized and transferred from oligomers to nano-helices during self-assembly.

Contradiction or Unity? Thermally Stable Fluorescent Probe for In Situ Fast Identification of Self-sort or Co-assembly of Multicomponent Gelators with Sensitive Properties

Analyzing the assembly patterns of multicomponent gelators is important for understanding their assembly rules and precisely manipulating their molecular structure to form a tailored multifunctional supramolecular gel. But the fast in situ recognition technology to infer whether the assembly pattern is a self-sorting or co-assembled system is lacking. For developing a widely applicable stable and sensitive fluorescent probe to infer assembly patterns, we design and synthesize the multiple peripheral functional group tetraphenylethene (TPE) modified well-defined cubic core polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) three-dimensional (3D) dendrimer. POSS-TPE can form a thermally stable self-assembly structure after being incubated in a wide temperature range, and the resultant special thermally stable photoluminescence (PL) intensity provides a novel possibility of fluorescent probe. Then, POSS-TPE sensitively catches the mechanical stress changes of the confined space provided by the gel networks and infers the assembly patterns by comparing the mechanical stress change laws of a self-sorting or co-assembled system. So, the application of fluorescent probe in assembly fields is enlarged in this research. In the future, this widely applicable fluorescent probe will be helpful to develop supramolecular assembly materials consisting of multicomponent gels.

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.

Peripheral groups of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) core-based dendrimers: a crucial factor for higher-level supra-architecture building

The role of peripheral groups (PGs) on dendrimers in the spontaneous higher-level organization of hierarchically assembled nanofibers was investigated in a series of POSS-based dendritic gelators (POSS-Lys-X, X: -Boc, -Cbz, -Fmoc, etc.). We demonstrate that the PGs not only affect the gelation ability in solutions, but also the construction of orderly entangled fibrous supramolecular networks, e.g., "loofah-like" networks. Attributed to the PGs (especially the -Boc group) causing a lower cooperative assembly, the steady state with the lowest potential energy of gelators can be easily achieved by the higher ordering of nanofiber entanglement into superstructures. The -Boc group-containing dendrimers show low molar enthalpy and molar entropy of gelation, which help the construction of unique three-dimensional (3D) "loofah-like" superstructures. In contrast, the high cooperative assembly of the dendrimer (-Cbz as the PG) promotes the gelator into a higher enthalpy gelation process, with a constructed normal fibrous network. Hence, the PGs of POSS-based dendrimers act as the crucial factor in controlling the hierarchical self-assembly via a thermodynamics approach. This research presents new perspectives to explicate the relationships between PGs of dendrimers, supra-architectures and gel performances, which further guide the design of functional supramolecular materials via controllable self-assembly.

Integrated POSS-dendrimer nanohybrid materials: current status and future perspective

Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-dendrimer hybrid materials have attracted great interest in the past ten years. The integration of inorganic POSS and organic dendrimer blocks in a single-phase material offers numerous possibilities to access desirable mechanical, optical, and biomedical properties for various applications. In this review article, we describe several kinds of POSS-dendrimer hybrid materials (POSS as the core, surface functionality, repeating unit of dendrimers and the POSS-dendron conjugates) with an emphasis on their synthetic strategies, tunable macroscopic properties, and potential applications. Moreover, the current trends, challenges and future directions of POSS-dendrimer hybrid materials are elaborated.

Interpol review of controlled substances 2016-2019

This review paper covers the forensic-relevant literature in controlled substances from 2016 to 2019 as a part of the 19th Interpol International Forensic Science Managers Symposium. The review papers are also available at the Interpol website at: https://www.interpol.int/content/download/14458/file/Interpol%20Review%20Papers%202019.pdf.

Chirality on dendrimers: “roll booster” of the molecule-level self-sorting assembly in two-component supramolecular gel system

Chirality-induced recognition-promoted thermodynamic phase separation and different rate-kinetically controlled assembly helps molecule-level self-sorting emerge in a dendritic multicomponent gel.