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Li X, Zhang Y, Shi Z, Wang D, Yang H, Zhang Y, Qin H, Lu W, Chen J, Li Y, Qing G. Water-stable boroxine structure with dynamic covalent bonds. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1207. [PMID: 38331926 PMCID: PMC10853236 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45464-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Boroxines are significant structures in the production of covalent organic frameworks, anion receptors, self-healing materials, and others. However, their utilization in aqueous media is a formidable task due to hydrolytic instability. Here we report a water-stable boroxine structure discovered from 2-hydroxyphenylboronic acid. We find that, under ambient environments, 2-hydroxyphenylboronic acid undergoes spontaneous dehydration to form a dimer with dynamic covalent bonds and aggregation-induced enhanced emission activity. Intriguingly, upon exposure to water, the dimer rapidly transforms into a boroxine structure with excellent pH stability and water-compatible dynamic covalent bonds. Building upon these discoveries, we report the strong binding capacity of boroxines toward fluoride ions in aqueous media, and develop a boroxine-based hydrogel with high acid-base stability and reversible gel-sol transition. This discovery of the water-stable boroxine structure breaks the constraint of boroxines not being applicable in aqueous environments, opening a new era of researches in boroxine chemistry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaopei Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, P. R. China
- Instrumental Analysis Center, School of Textile and Material Engineering, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian, P. R. China
| | - Yongjie Zhang
- Instrumental Analysis Center, School of Textile and Material Engineering, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian, P. R. China
| | - Zhenqiang Shi
- CAS Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, P. R. China
| | - Dongdong Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, P. R. China
| | - Hang Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, P. R. China
| | - Yahui Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, P. R. China
| | - Haijuan Qin
- Research Centre of Modern Analytical Technology, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin, P. R. China
| | - Wenqi Lu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, P. R. China
| | - Junjun Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, P. R. China
| | - Yan Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, P. R. China
| | - Guangyan Qing
- CAS Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, P. R. China.
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan, P. R. China.
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