An Encyclopedic Compendium on Chemosensing Supramolecular Metal-Organic Gels

Chemosensing, an interdisciplinary scientific domain, plays a pivotal role ranging from environmental monitoring to healthcare diagnostics and (inter)national security. Metal-organic gels (MOGs) are recognized for their stability, selectivity, and responsiveness, making them valuable for chemosensing applications. Researchers have explored the development of MOGs based on different metal ions and ligands, allowing for tailored properties and sensitivities, and have even demonstrated their applications as portable sensors such as paper-based test strips for practical use. Herein, several studies related to MOGs development and their applications in the chemosensing field via UV-visible or luminance along with electrochemical approach are presented. These papers explored MOGs as versatile materials with their use in sensing bio or environmental analytes. This review provides a foundational understanding of key concepts, methodologies, and recent advancements in this field, fostering the scientific community.

Chiral Ru-Based Covalent Organic Frameworks as An Electrochemiluminescence-Active Platform for the Enantioselective Sensing of Amino Acids

Although several studies related with the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) technique have been reported for chiral discrimination, it still has to face some limitations, namely, complex synthetic pathways and a relatively low recognition efficiency. Herein, this study introduces a facile strategy for the synthesis of ECL-active chiral covalent organic frameworks (COFs) employed as a chiral recognition platform. In this artificial structure, ruthenium(II) coordinated with the dipyridyl unit of the COF and enantiopure cyclohexane-1,2-diamine was harnessed as the ECL-active unit, which gave strong ECL emission in the presence of the coreactant reagent (K2S2O8). When the as-prepared COF was used as a chiral ECL-active platform, clear discrimination was observed in the response of the ECL intensity toward l- and d-enantiomers of amino acids, including tryptophan, leucine, methionine, threonine, and histidine. The biggest ratio of the ECL intensity between different configurations was up to 1.75. More importantly, a good linear relationship between the enantiomeric composition and the ECL intensity was established, which was successfully employed to determine the unknown enantiomeric compositions of the real samples. In brief, we believe that the proposed ECL-based chiral platform provides an important reference for the determination of the configuration and enantiomeric compositions.

Macroscopic handedness inversion of terbium coordination polymers achieved by doping homochiral ligand analogues

Inspired by natural biological systems, chiral or handedness inversion by altering external and internal conditions to influence intermolecular interactions is an attractive topic for regulating chiral self-assembled materials. For coordination polymers, the regulation of their helical handedness remains little reported compared to polymers and supramolecules. In this work, we choose the chiral ligands R-pempH2 (pempH2 = (1-phenylethylamino)methylphosphonic acid) and R-XpempH2 (X = F, Cl, Br) as the second ligand, which can introduce C-H⋯π and C-H⋯X interactions, doped into the reaction system of the Tb(R-cyampH)3·3H2O (cyampH2 = (1-cyclohexylethylamino)methylphosphonic acid) coordination polymer, which itself can form a right-handed superhelix by van der Waals forces, and a series of superhelices R-1H-x, R-2F-x, R-3Cl-x, and R-4Br-x with different doping ratios x were obtained, whose handedness is related to the second ligand and its doping ratio, indicating the decisive role of interchain interactions of different strengths in the helical handedness. This study could provide a new pathway for the design and self-assembly of chiral materials with controllable handedness and help the further understanding of the mechanism of self-assembly of coordination polymers forming macroscopic helical systems.

Recent advances of optically active helical polymers as adsorbents and chiral stationary phases for chiral resolution

Chiral resolution is very important and still a big challenge due to different biological activity and same physicochemical property of one pair (R)- and (S)-isomer. There is no doubt that chiral selectors are essentially needed for chiral resolution, which can stereoselectively interact with a pair of isomers. To date, a large amount of optically active helical polymers as chiral selectors have been synthesized via two strategies. First, the target helical polymers are derived from natural polysaccharide such as cellulose and amylose. Second, they can be synthesized by polymerization of chiral monomers. Alternatively, an achiral polymer is prepared first followed by static or dynamic chiral induction. Furthermore, a part of them is harnessed as chiral stationary phases for chromatographic chiral separation and as chiral adsorbents for enantioselective adsorption/crystallization, resulting in good enantioseparation efficiency. In summary, the present review will focus on recent progress of the polymers with optical activity for chiral resolution, especially the literature published in the past 10 years. In addition, development prospects and future challenges of optically active helical polymers will be discussed in detail.

Research and Application of Highly Selective Molecular Imprinting Technology in Chiral Separation Analysis

Since residual chiral pollutants in the environment and toxic or ineffective chiral components in drugs can threat human health, there is an urgent need for methods to separation and analyze chiral molecules. Molecular imprinting technology (MIT) is a biomimetic technique for specific recognition of analytes with high potential for application in the field of chiral separation and analysis. However, since MIT has some disadvantages when used for chiral recognition, such as poor rigidity of imprinted materials, a single type of recognition site, and poor stereoselectivity, reducing the interference of conformationally and structurally similar substances to increase the efficiency of chiral recognition is difficult. Therefore, improving the rigidity of imprinted materials, increasing the types of imprinted cavity recognition sites, and constructing an imprinted microenvironment for highly selective chiral recognition are necessary for the accurate identification of chiral substances. In this article, the principle of chiral imprinting recognition is introduced, and various strategies that improve the selectivity of chiral imprinting, using derivative functional monomers, supramolecular compounds, chiral assembly materials, and biomolecules, are reviewed in the past 10 years.

Enantioselective Self-Assembled Nanofibrillar Network with Glutamide-Based Organogelator

A chiral molecular gelation system, as a chiral host, was used to effectively realize enantioselectivity using the simple carboxylic acid functional group. For this purpose, an L-glutamic-acid-based lipidic amphiphile (G-CA) with a carboxylic head group was selected and its responsiveness to cationic guest molecules was investigated. The dispersion morphology of G-CA in its solution state was examined by confocal and transmission electron microscopies, while interactions between the G-CA, as the host system, and guest molecules were evaluated by UV-visible, circular dichroism, and fluorescence spectroscopies. As a result, enantioselectivity was effectively induced when G-CA formed highly ordered aggregates that provide negatively charged surfaces in which carboxyl groups are assembled in highly ordered states, and when the two cationic groups of the guest molecule are attached to this surface through multiple interactions.

Nanomechanical Properties of a Supramolecular Helix Stabilized by Non-Covalent Interactions

Supramolecular helices have unique properties and many potential applications, such as chiral separation and asymmetric catalysis. Mechanical property (stability) of the supramolecular helix plays important roles in their functions. Due to the limitation of detection method, it is quite challenging to investigate nanomechanical properties of individual supramolecular helices stabilized by pure supramolecular interactions. Here atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based single molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) is used to study the nanomechanical properties of a thermal-responsive supramolecular helix. The unwinding force plateau is observed in the force-extension curve, and the rupture force of the helix is dependent on the loading rate. In addition, the force-induced unwinding process is reversible and there is almost no energy dissipation in the process. Furthermore, the result of thermal shape-fluctuation analysis shows that the persistence length of the supramolecular helix is about 222 nm, which is much larger than helical structure formed by double-stranded DNA (dsDNA). However, because of its unique backbone structure, the supramolecular helix exhibits higher dynamic flexibility during force-induced deformation, since the persistence length determined from the stretching experiment is much smaller (1.1 nm).

Pteridine derivatives: novel low-molecular-weight organogelators and their piezofluorochromism

Here, π-conjugated compounds based on pteridine derivatives were synthesized and their self-assembling behaviors in a variety of organic solvents and piezofluorochromism were studied.

Modulating Supramolecular Chirality in Alanine Derived Assemblies by Multiple External Stimuli

Having control over the supramolecular chirality through multiexternal stimulators provides many possibilities in realizing functional chiral materials. Herein, the supramolecular chirality of nanotwists comprising PA centered with 1,4-phenyldicarboxamide bearing two l/d-helicogenic alanine motifs and achiral COOH at each terminus of the alanine arms is modulated by solvent, temperature, and ultrasound. The modulations are mainly due to the hydrogen bonds among gelators and solvent-gelator interactions, resulting in changes of the molecular arrangement and subsequent self-assembled nanostructures. Typically, the gel of PA in ethyl acetate prepared by ultrasonication method exhibits thixotropic property due to the participation of ethyl acetate in the self-assembly process, resulting in relatively flexible and tolerant networks. This study provides a simplistic way to control the handedness of chiral nanostructures and a rational design of the self-assembly system with multistimuli-responsive supramolecular chirality.

Diarylethene-based xerogels: the fabrication of more entangled networks driven by isomerization and acidofluorochromism

The organogels were formed from fully-conjugated styrylbenzoxazoles and styrylbenzothiazoles without traditional gelation groups.

Fluorescent Phthalocyanine Assembly Distinguishes Chiral Isomers of Different Types of Amino Acids and Sugars

The functions of some natural supramolecular architectures, such as ribosomes, are dependent on the recognition of different types of chiral biomolecules. However, the recognition of different types of chiral molecules (multiobject chiral recognition), such as amino acids and sugars, by independent and identically artificial supramolecular assembly, was rarely achieved. In this article, simple amphiphilic achiral phthalocyanine was found to form supramolecular chiral assemblies with charged water-soluble polymers upon host-guest interactions at the air/water interface. Among these systems, one identical phthalocyanine/poly(l-lysine) assembly not only can distinguish enantiomers of different amino acids but also can recognize several epimers of monose. The chiral recognitions were achieved by comparing either the steady-state fluorescence intensity or fluorescence quenching rate of phthalocyanine/poly(l-lysine) assemblies, before and after interaction with different small chiral molecules. It was demonstrated that the interactions between poly(l-lysine) and different small chiral molecules could change the aggregation of phthalocyanines. And the sensitivity of fluorescence and the excellent multiobject chiral recognition properties of the phthalocyanine/poly(l-lysine) assembly are dependent on the subtle molecular packing mode and the cooperation of different noncovalent interactions.

Chiral and non-conjugated fluorescent salen ligands: AIE, anion probes, chiral recognition of unprotected amino acids, and cell imaging applications

Chiral and non-conjugated fluorescent salen ligands with a cyclohexane/1,2-diphenylethane bridge have small π-conjugated systems but exhibit strong aggregation/anion/amino acid-induced emission.

Direct Observation of Siloxane Chirality on Twisted and Helical Nanometric Amorphous Silica

Synthesis of chiral inorganic or hybrid nanomaterials through sol-gel transcription of chiral organic templates has attracted a great deal of interest for more than a decade. However, the chiral nature of these inorganic matrices has never been directly observed. For the first time, we report a direct evaluation of chirality on noncrystalline silica chiral nanoribbons by vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) measurements. Strong Cotton effect around 1150-1000 cm^-1 from Si-O-Si asymmetric stretching vibration was observed. Surprisingly, calcination of these hybrid nanoribbons doubled the intensity of Cotton effects. On the basis of transmission electron microscopy observations, IR, VCD, NMR, and Raman spectroscopies, we demonstrate that the silica chirality originates from twisted siloxane network composed of chiral arrangement of the Si-O-Si bonds. Our findings clearly prove the presence of chiral organization of amorphous silica network, making them very promising chiral platforms for chiral recognition, optical applications, or asymmetric catalysis.

Click chemistry-assisted, bis-cholesteryl-appended, isosorbide-based, dual-responsive organogelators and their self-assemblies

A new series of symmetric, bis-cholesteryl-appended, isosorbide derivatives (BCIE, BCIC2 and BCIC4) were designed as gelators to respond to changes in their environment and were synthesized successfully. Among these derivatives, BCIE can gel a wide variety of organic solvents (23 solvents), suggesting that BCIE acts as a more versatile gelator than BCIC2 and BCIC4. The CGC of the gels varies from 1.53 mM in 1-hexanol to 23 mM in pyridine. The results of the gelation ability in different solvents revealed that changing the linking group (ester/carbamate) attached to the cholesteryl units can produce a dramatic change in the gelation behavior of the compounds. The morphology of the as-formed organogels can be regulated by changing the types of organic solvents. The results from electron microscopy studies revealed that the gelator molecule self-assembled into different aggregates, from wrinkled fibers to dense fibers, with the change of solvents. The gels of BCIE in 1-hexanol and 1-octanol exhibited strong CD (circular dichroism) signals, indicating that the gelation induced supramolecular chirality in these gel systems. Secondary forces of van der Waals and π-π stacking (from both 1,2,3-triazole and aromatic units) played important roles in the aggregation of compounds in the solvents according to FTIR and variable temperature (1)H-NMR analysis, and a mechanism for the gel formation was proposed. The gel-to-sol phase transition can be triggered by the addition of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), and the gel state was obtained slowly (after 1 day) when neutralizing with triethyl amine (TEA), which indicated that the sol ⇄ gel phase transitions are tunable by pH, which is further supported by (1)H-NMR and SEM analysis. In addition, the gel stability of BCIE was investigated using Cu(2+), Cd(2+), Ag(2+), Fe(3+), Hg(2+), Mg(2+), Pd(2+), Al(3+) and Zn(2+), and the results showed that the gel-to-sol phase transition process could be selectively controlled by interaction with Pd(2+) and Zn(2+) because complexation with 1,2,3-triazoles destroyed the interactions between the triazoles, collapsing the gel, which was further evidenced by (1)H-NMR and SEM analysis. However, the gel stability of BCIE was enhanced by the addition of Pd(2+) and Zn(2+) in the presence of pyridine, whereas the gel collapsed in other solvents, which may be due to the chelating effect of the pyridine moiety. Another interesting feature of this gel is that when using the gelator as a stabilizer, stable water in oil (W/O) gel-emulsions were created, in which styrene can be used as the continuous phase and water as the dispersed phase with the stabilizer in the continuous phase of only 2% (w/v). Gel-emulsions were observed with any ratio of water to styrene.

Synthesis and characterization of chiral aza-macrocycles and study of their enantiomer recognition ability for organo-phosphoric acid and phosphonic acid derivatives by 31P NMR and fluorescence spectroscopy

Two diastereomers of optically active N,O-containing new macrocycles with dual chirality were synthesized and evaluated for chiral discrimination of organo phosphoric and phosphonic acids by ³¹P NMR and fluorescence spectroscopy.

Chiral Metallo-Supramolecular Complex Directed Enantioselective Self-Assembly of β-Sheet Breaker Peptide for Amyloid Inhibition

Chiral recognition plays an important role for biomacromolecules involved self-assembly and further affects their biological functions. Herein, it is demonstrated that two chiral metal complexes can enantioselectively bind with Aβ15-20, leading to the formation of different self-assembled nanostructures. With the ability of both metal complexes and Aβ15-20 to inhibit Aβ1-40 aggregation, the NiM@P hybrid particles can act as bifunctional Aβ inhibitors.

A remarkable enhancement of selectivity towards versatile analytes by a strategically integrated H-bonding site containing phase

A double β-alanylated L-glutamide-derived organic phase has been newly designed and synthesized in such a way that integrated H-bonding (interaction) sites make it very suitable for the separation of versatile analytes, including shape-constrained isomers, and nonpolar, polar and basic compounds. The β-alanine residues introduced into two long-chain alkyl group moieties provide ordered polar groups through H-bonding among the amide groups.

Electrostatic and aromatic interaction-directed supramolecular self-assembly of a designed Fmoc-tripeptide into helical nanoribbons

Supramolecular self-assembly offers an efficient pathway for creating macroscopically chiral structures in biology and materials science. Here, a new peptide consisting of an N-(9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl) headgroup connected to an aromatic phenylalanine-tryptophan dipeptide and terminated with zwitterionic lysine (Fmoc-FWK) and its cationic form (Fmoc-FWK-NH2) were designed for self-assembly into chiral structures. It was found that the Fmoc-FWK peptide self-assembled into left-handed helical nanoribbons at pH 11.2-11.8, whereas it formed nanofibers at pH 5 and 12 and large flat ribbons composed of many nanofibers in the pH range of 6-11. However, only nanofibers were observed in the cases of Fmoc-FWK-NH2 at different values. A series of structural characterizations based on CD, FTIR, UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy reveal that the electrostatic and aromatic interactions and the associated hydrogen bonding direct the self-assembly into various structures. The enhanced π-π stacking and hydrogen bonding were found in the helical nanoribbons. This difference in intermolecular interactions should be derived from the ionization of carboxyl and amino groups from lysine residues at different pH values. Furthermore, we performed molecular dynamics simulations to gain insight into the assembly mechanisms. The results imply that a relatively rigid molecular conformation and the strong intramolecular aromatic interaction between Trp and Fmoc groups favor chiral self-assembly. This study is the first attempt to design a Fmoc-tripeptide for the fabrication of helical structures with macroscopic chirality, which provides a successful example and allows us to create new peptide-based chiral assembly systems.

Self-assembled switching gels with multiresponsivity and chirality

A multiresponsive hydrogel material consisting of a commercial cationic surfactant and an azobenzene derivative functionalized with four carboxylic acid groups was constructed. The achiral azobenzene molecule as a gelator produces chirality at the supramolecular level in the presence of H(+). The acid-induced gelation and morphology change of supramolecular gels were investigated in detail by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), rheological measurements, circular dichroism (CD), and (1)H NMR spectra. Based on the results, a mechanism of the intermolecular H-bond-directed gelation and supramolecular chirality was proposed. Other than the pH sensitivity, the microstructure and the chirality of the hydrogel demonstrate reversible switching behavior in response to photoirradiation, on account of the photoisomerization of the azobenzene derivative. Accordingly, a chiroptical switch comprising four different states in response to pH and light stimuli is strategically constructed. Not only does the present system provide a good opportunity for investigating the gelation-induced supramolecular chirality by symmetry breaking totally based on achiral molecules, but it also proposes a new strategy to build multiresponsive supramolecular switches as particularly attractive for the future development of functional materials.

The effect of meta versus para substitution on the aggregation of bis-cholesteryl appended 2,6-disubstituted pyridine-based gelators

The self assembly of bent core isomers comprising pyridine-cholesteryl units connected through meta- and para-substituted benzene as linkers were studied and their gelation and aggregation phenomena were compared with respect to the substitution effect.

Enantioselective recognition of a fluorescence-labeled phenylalanine by self-assembled chiral nanostructures

Self-assembled chiral nanostructures formed by a pyridylpyrazole-conjugated l-glutamide showed enantioselectivity for a fluorescence labeled chiral amino acid.

Photocurrent generation of nanofibers constructed using a complex of a gelator and a fullerene derivative

Two-component xerogel film constructed by a carboxylic acid derivative and fullerene derivative could generate large photocurrent under light irradiation.

Nanofibers of hydrogen-bonded two-component gel with closely connected p- and n-channels and photoinduced electron transfer

An D-A-D gelator (DTCQ) was designed and synthesized using 2,3-dimethyl-5,8-di(thiophen-2-yl)quinoxaline and N-alkyl 3-aminocarbazole units as acceptor and donor, respectively, which were linked by a single bond. The compound could gelate several solvents, such as benzyl alcohol, aniline, acetophenone, and o-dichlorobenzene, as well as self-assemble into one-dimensional (1D) nanofibers in gel phase. The absorption and infrared spectra of the gels indicated that π-π interactions between aromatic moieties, intermolecular hydrogen bonds between amide units, and van der Waals forces were the driving forces for the formation of 1D self-assemblies and gel. DTCQ gel was red and emits red fluorescence because it has a strong absorption band at 487 nm and an emissive band at 620 nm. Moreover, DTCQ and a fullerene carboxylic acid formed two-component gel, in which the two compounds developed a hydrogen bond complex and self-assembled into 1D nanofibers with closely connected p- and n-channels. The nanofibrous xerogel film can rapidly generate a photocurrent under visible-light radiation through electron transfer from the gelator to fullerene, and then, the excellent exciton separation and charge transfer to two electrodes.

Supramolecular chirality in self-assembled soft materials: regulation of chiral nanostructures and chiral functions

Supramolecular chirality, which arises from the nonsymmetric spatial arrangement of components in the self-assembly systems, has gained great attention owing to its relation to the natural biological structures and the possible new functions in advanced materials. During the self-assembling process, both chiral and achiral components are possible to form chiral nanostructures. Therefore, it becomes an important issue how to fabricate these molecular components into chiral nanostructures. Furthermore, once the chiral nanostructure is obtained, will it show new functions that simple component molecule could not? In this research news, we report our recent development in the regulation of chiral nanostructures in soft gels or vesicle materials. We have further developed several new functions pertaining to the soft gel materials, which single chiral molecules could not perform, such as the chiroptical switch, chiral recognition and the asymmetry catalysis.

Gelation induced supramolecular chirality: chirality transfer, amplification and application

Supramolecular chirality defines chirality at the supramolecular level, and is generated from the spatial arrangement of component molecules assembling through non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, van der Waals interactions, π-π stacking, hydrophobic interactions and so on. During the formation of low molecular weight gels (LMWGs), one kind of fascinating soft material, one frequently encounters the phenomenon of chirality as well as chiral nanostructures, either from chiral gelators or even achiral gelators. A view of gelation-induced supramolecular chirality will be very helpful to understand the self-assembly process of the gelator molecules as well as the chiral structures, the regulation of the chirality in the gels and the development of the "smart" chiral materials such as chiroptical devices, catalysts and chiral sensors. It necessitates fundamental understanding of chirality transfer and amplification in these supramolecular systems. In this review, recent progress in gelation-induced supramolecular chirality is discussed.

Porphyrin-based sensor nanoarchitectonics in diverse physical detection modes

Porphyrins and related families of molecules are important organic modules as has been reflected in the award of the Nobel Prizes in Chemistry in 1915, 1930, 1961, 1962, 1965, and 1988 for work on porphyrin-related biological functionalities. The porphyrin core can be synthetically modified by introduction of various functional groups and other elements, allowing creation of numerous types of porphyrin derivatives. This feature makes porphyrins extremely useful molecules especially in combination with their other interesting photonic, electronic and magnetic properties, which in turn is reflected in their diverse signal input-output functionalities based on interactions with other molecules and external stimuli. Therefore, porphyrins and related macrocycles play a preeminent role in sensing applications involving chromophores. In this review, we discuss recent developments in porphyrin-based sensing applications in conjunction with the new advanced concept of nanoarchitectonics, which creates functional nanostructures based on a profound understanding of mutual interactions between the individual nanostructures and their arbitrary arrangements. Following a brief explanation of the basics of porphyrin chemistry and physics, recent examples in the corresponding fields are discussed according to a classification based on physical modes of detection including optical detection (absorption/photoluminescence spectroscopy and energy and electron transfer processes), other spectral modes (circular dichroism, plasmon and nuclear magnetic resonance), electronic and electrochemical modes, and other sensing modes.

Emission enhancement of a coplanar π-conjugated gelator without any auxiliary substituents

A linear coplanar carbazole-based benzoxazole derivative without any auxiliary moieties could gelatinize organic solvents, and exhibited emission enhancement owing to the J-aggregate formation.