Self-complementary hydrogen-bond interactions of guanosine: a hub for constructing supra-amphiphilic polymers with controlled molecular structure and aggregate morphology

Structurally Tunable pH-Responsive Luminescent Assemblies from Halogen Bonded Supra-π-amphiphiles

Supra-amphiphiles constituted of noncovalent bonds have emerged as attractive systems for fabrication of stimuli-responsive self-assembled nanostructures. A unique supramolecular strategy utilizing halogen (X)-bonding interaction has been demonstrated for constructing emissive supra-π-amphiphiles in water from a hydrophobic pyridyl functionalized naphthalene monoimide (NMI-Py) based X-bond acceptor and hydrophilic iodotetrafluorophenyl functionalized polyethylene glycol (PEG-I) or triethylene glycol (TEG-I) based X-bond donors, while their luminescent higher ordered assemblies were governed by orthogonal dipole-dipole interaction and π-stacking of the NMI-Py fluorophore as probed by SCXRD and DFT calculations. Control molecules lacking iodotetrafluorophenyl moiety at the polyethylene glycol chain end failed to create any defined morphology from the NMI-Py, suggesting X-bonding is prerequisite for the nanostructure formation. Variation in the chain length of the X-bond donors leads to different morphologies (fiber vs vesicle) for PEG-I and TEG-I. Acid triggered denaturing of the X-bonds caused pH responsive disassembly of the thermally robust nanostructures. This strategy paves the way for facile fabrication of structurally diverse smart and adaptive luminescent functional materials with tunable morphology.

Synthesis and self-assembly of polyethersulfone-based amphiphilic block copolymers as microparticles for suspension immunosensors

Polyethersulfone (PES) based amphiphilic block copolymer has been synthesized and transformed into immunological microparticles via confined emulsion self-assembly and surface biomodification, opens the in-vitro diagnostic application of PES.