Supramolecular Design Research Articles

Effects of Fluorine Substitution on the Intermolecular Interactions, Energetics, and Packing Behavior of N-Benzyl Substituted Diketopyrrolopyrroles

Rationalizing the effects of molecular substitution in π-conjugated organic materials arising from well-defined intermolecular interactions, which can influence the formation of predefined packing motifs and control the emergence of π–π stacking represents a current challenge in supramolecular design. Significant effort is potentially required to manage the impact on solid state packing behavior in materials that have been molecularly tuned to carry out specific photophysical and electrochemical functions. In this regard, fluorine substitution in π-conjugated systems has seen a recent surge of interest, primarily aimed toward the development of materials with enhanced optical and optoelectronic behavior. In light of this interest, in the following study, we report the synthesis and single crystal structures from a series of four novel and structurally related, symmetric, fluorinated N-benzyl substituted diketopyrrolopyrroles (DPPs). Two of the investigated series exhibit slipped cofacial π–π dimer pairs, ...

H-bonding directed programmed supramolecular assembly of naphthalene-diimide (NDI) derivatives.

In this review we have collated various supramolecular designs, all surrounding H-bonding among well-known functional groups (peptides, nucleic acids, amides, ureas, carboxylic acids, pyridine-hydroxyls, urethanes, imides and others), to dictate self-assembly of naphthalenediimide (NDI) π-systems (both small molecules and polymeric building blocks) that exhibit several exciting features including strong propensity for π-π interactions, π-acidity, excellent n-type semiconductivity, CT-complexation, ion-π interactions, ring-substitution dependent redox properties and photophysical properties. This article reveals that H-bonding can indeed serve as a very powerful and versatile tool to programmed self-assembly of a single or multiple dye system producing a wide range of tailored soft materials, including fibrillar gels, chromonic mesophases, foldamers, nanotubes, vesicles, reverse micelles and polymersomes, both in water and organic medium with distinct photophysical properties, charge transport properties, conductivity properties and functional group displays that are highly relevant in the fields of biology and organic electronics.

Increased luminescence efficiency by synergistic exploitation of lipo/hydrophilic co-solvency and supramolecular design

Addition of 1-propanol in water significantly reduces interchain species in poly(diphenylenevinylene) derivatives and its cyclodextrin-threaded rotaxane.

Supramolecular Crafting of Self-Assembling Camptothecin Prodrugs with Enhanced Efficacy against Primary Cancer Cells.

Chemical modification of small molecule hydrophobic drugs is a clinically proven strategy to devise prodrugs with enhanced treatment efficacy. While this prodrug strategy improves the parent drug's water solubility and pharmacokinetic profile, it typically compromises the drug's potency against cancer cells due to the retarded drug release rate and reduced cellular uptake efficiency. Here we report on the supramolecular design of self-assembling prodrugs (SAPD) with much improved water solubility while maintaining high potency against cancer cells. We found that camptothecin (CPT) prodrugs created by conjugating two CPT molecules onto a hydrophilic segment can associate into filamentous nanostructures in water. Our results suggest that these SAPD exhibit much greater efficacy against primary brain cancer cells relative to that of irinotecan, a clinically used CPT prodrug. We believe these findings open a new avenue for rational design of supramolecular prodrugs for cancer treatment.

Photoreactive helical nanoaggregates exhibiting morphology transition on thermal reconstruction.

The supramolecular design of photochromic molecules has produced various smart molecular assemblies that can switch their structures and/or functions in response to light stimuli. However, most of these assemblies require large structural changes of the photochromic molecules for an efficient conversion of assembled states, which often suppresses the photoreactivity within the self-assemblies. Here we report molecular assemblies, based on a photo-cross-linkable chromophoric dyad, in which a small amount of ultraviolet-generated photochemical product can guide the entire system into different assembly processes. In apolar solution, the intact dyad self-assembles into right-handed superhelical fibrils. On ultraviolet-irradiation of these fibrils, an effective photoreaction affords a sole photo-cross-linked product. When right-handed helical fibrils, containing a minor amount of the photoproduct, are thermally reconstructed, the intact molecule and the photoproduct undergo a co-assembly process that furnishes superhelical fibrils with different molecular packing structures. This molecular design principle should afford new paradigms for smart molecular assemblies.

Supramolecular design of coordination bonding architecture on zein nanoparticles for pH-responsive anticancer drug delivery

A pH-responsive system by constructing a designable coordination bonding-based metal-tannic acid (TA) architecture on zein nanoparticles (NPs) has been investigated. Film formation was initiated by the adsorption of the polyphenol and directed by pH-dependent, multivalent coordination bonding. The prepared metal-TA coated zein NPs (zein-TA/metal NPs) demonstrated good stability to maintain particle size in cell culture medium at 37°C. The microstructure of the NPs was revealed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). To confirm the surface chemical information of the NPs, XPS analysis was performed. Furthermore, in vitro viability studies revealed that the zein-TA/metal NPs showed no significant cytotoxicity against HepG2 cells for 24h. Because of the pH-responsive coordination bonding between TA and metal ions, the functional property of the metal-TA films was tailored for drug delivery. Biocompatible AuNPs were produced using zein-TA/metal NPs as reducing and stabilizing agents which were promising in the photothermal therapy of cancers and other diseases.

The Link that Lasts: A New Frontier in Supramolecular Block Copolymer Design.

Lasting link: A supramolecular linkage between two parts of an amphiphilic block copolymer was developed that is sufficiently strong to allow phase-separation-driven nanopatterning as well as chromatographic characterization. The link can also be severed in response to a solvent trigger signal. This powerful approach will open new avenues for the production of self-healing materials, triggered-release systems, and reversible surface designs.

All-cis 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexafluorocyclohexane is a facially polarized cyclohexane.

The highest-energy stereoisomer of 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexafluorocyclohexane, in which all of the fluorines are 'up', is prepared in a 12-step protocol. The molecule adopts a classic chair conformation with alternate C-F bonds aligned triaxially, clustering three highly electronegative fluorine atoms in close proximity. This generates a cyclohexane with a high molecular dipole (μ = 6.2 D), unusual in an otherwise aliphatic compound. X-ray analysis indicates that the intramolecular Fax···Fax distances (∼2.77 Å) are longer than the vicinal Fax···Feq- distances (∼2.73 Å) suggesting a tension stabilizing the chair conformation. In the solid state the molecules pack in an orientation consistent with electrostatic ordering. Our synthesis of this highest-energy isomer demonstrates the properties that accompany the placement of axial fluorines on a cyclohexane and the unusual property of a facially polarized ring in organic chemistry. Derivatives have potential as new motifs for the design of functional organic molecules or for applications in supramolecular chemistry design.

Supramolecular structural design in a system based on nanocluster Mo138 and a cationic surfactant: The influence of components ratio and pH of the solution

Abstract The design of supramolecular compounds is one of the key modern chemical trends. Based on the study of self-organising processes, supramolecular chemistry allows the creation of complex nanoclustered and hierarchical structures by the self-assembly method. We have investigated a system consisting of nanoclustered polyoxomolybdate Mo 138 with a toroid structure and cationic surfactant n-tridecylpyridinium chloride (TDPCh). As a result, the peculiarity of adsorptive interaction between system components was uncovered. This interaction depends on the components ratio and the pH of the solution and leads to spontaneous formation of hierarchical supramolecular structures. The sizes of ion-associates {(Mo 138 ) x –(TDPCh) y } in solution and their zeta-potentials were determined by the dynamic light scattering method (DLS). Moreover, we have studied the extraction possibility of these ion-associates from water to organic solvents. The findings, together with the results of FTIR-spectroscopy, scanning probe, and electron microscopy, allowed us to make a model which describes the evolution of hierarchical structures in the system (Mo 138 )–(n-tridecylpyridinium chloride) in conditions of increasing cationic surfactant concentration and changing pH.

Extreme resilience in cochleate nanoparticles.

Cochleates, prospective nanoscale drug delivery vehicles, are rolls of negatively charged phospholipid membrane layers. The membrane layers are held together by calcium ions; however, neither the magnitude of membrane interaction forces nor the overall mechanical properties of cochleates have been known. Here, we manipulated individual nanoparticles with atomic force microscopy to characterize their nanomechanical behavior. Their stiffness (4.2-12.5 N/m) and membrane-rupture forces (45.3-278 nN) are orders of magnitude greater than those of the tough viral nanoshells. Even though the fundamental building material of cochleates is a fluid membrane, the combination of supramolecular geometry, the cross-linking action of calcium, and the tight packing of the ions apparently lead to extreme mechanical resilience. The supramolecular design of cochleates may provide efficient protection for encapsulated materials and give clues to understanding biomolecular structures of similar design, such as the myelinated axon.

J-aggregation, its impact on excited state dynamics and unique solvent effects on macroscopic assembly of a core-substituted naphthalenediimide.

Herein we reveal a straightforward supramolecular design for the H-bonding driven J-aggregation of an amine-substituted cNDI in aliphatic hydrocarbons. Transient absorption spectroscopy reveals sub-ps intramolecular electron transfer in isolated NDI molecules in a THF solution followed by a fast recombination process, while a remarkable extension of the excited state lifetime by more than one order of magnitude occurred in methylcyclohexane likely owing to an increased charge-separation as a result of better delocalization of the charge-separated states in J-aggregates. We also describe unique solvent-effects on the macroscopic structure and morphology. While J-aggregation with similar photophysical characteristics was noticed in all the tested aliphatic hydrocarbons, the morphology strongly depends on the "structure" of the solvents. In linear hydrocarbons (n-hexane, n-octane, n-decane or n-dodecane), formation of an entangled fibrillar network leads to macroscopic gelation while in cyclic hydrocarbons (methylcyclohexane or cyclohexane) although having a similar polarity, the cNDI exhibits nanoscale spherical particles. These unprecedented solvent effects were rationalized by establishing structure-dependent specific interactions of the solvent molecules with the cNDI which may serve as a general guideline for solvent-induced morphology-control of structurally related self-assembled materials.

Multivalent helix mimetics for PPI-inhibition.

The exploitation of multivalent ligands for the inhibition of protein-protein interactions has not yet been explored as a supramolecular design strategy. This is despite the fact that protein-protein interactions typically occur within the context of multi-protein complexes and frequently exploit avidity effects or co-operative binding interactions to achieve high affinity interactions. In this paper we describe preliminary studies on the use of a multivalent N-alkylated aromatic oligoamide helix mimetic for inhibition of p53/hDM2 and establish that protein dimerisation is promoted, rather than enhanced binding resulting from a higher effective concentration of the ligand.

Chemical doping enhances electronic transport in networks of hexabenzocoronenes assembled in non-aqueous electrolyte

The electronic transport properties of HBC networks in non-aqueous electrolyte are tailored using synthetic chemistry and supramolecular design principles.

Directionality of Ultrafast Electron Transfer in a Hydrogen Evolving Ru–Pd-Based Photocatalyst

Directionality of electron transfer and long-lived charge separation are of key importance for efficient photocatalytic water splitting. Knowledge of the processes that follow photoexcitation is essential for the optimization of supramolecular assembly designs in order to improve the efficiency of photocatalytic hydrogen generation. Photoinduced intramolecular electron transfer processes within the hydrogen-evolving photocatalyst [Ru(bpy)2(tpy)Pd(CH3CN)Cl]2+ (RuPd; bpy = bipyridine, tpy = 2,2′:5′,2″-terpyridine) have been studied by resonance Raman, femtosecond transient absorption, and time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopies. Comparison of the photophysical properties of RuPd with those of the mononuclear precursor [(bpy)2Ru(tpy)]2+ (Ru) enables establishment of a photophysical model ranging from the femtosecond to the submicrosecond domain. Optical excitation of Ru and RuPd populates both bpy- and tpy-based 1MLCT (metal-to-ligand charge transfer) singlet states, from where intersystem crossing (ISC) into corresponding 3MLCT triplet states occurs. Electron density localized on the peripheral bpy ligands can subsequently flow to the tpy bridging ligand by interligand electron transfer, which process occurs with a time constant of 32.5 (±1.5) ps for RuPd. Not all electron density undergoes this process, most likely due to a competing loss channel on the bpy ligand caused by vibrational relaxation occurring at a time scale of 9.1 (±0.4) ps. The relaxed 3MLCTbpy and 3MLCTtpy states have excited state lifetimes of 400 (±1) ns and 88 (±1) ns, respectively. Electron transfer from the tpy ligand to Pd may take place on a ∼100 ns time scale, but it is also possible that the final relaxed excited state is delocalized over the tpy ligand and the Pd center. The insight that optical excitation populates both the peripheral bpy ligands and the bridging tpy ligand, and that part of the electron density subsequently flows from the former to the latter, is important for the realization of efficient photocatalytic hydrogen generation. The next step is to make the interligand electron transfer process faster, by functionalizing the peripheral ligands with electron-donating moieties, and adapting the nature of the bridging ligand and the catalytic metal center.

Development of Phosphonate Monoesters Building Units in Metal-Organic Frameworks

The use of predictable coordination geometries and the development of new ligands has allowed supramolecular chemists to design a plethora of new materials. Among these are metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), which are composed of ligands coordinating to metal atoms or clusters to generate a framework with potential porosity. MOFs exemplify supramolecular design strategy as their extended structure and tunable properties allow them to be applied for various applications.1 To date, many MOFs utilize carboxylates as the coordinating group since they have well studied coordination geometries and thus predictable framework topologies. Though there are examples of carboxylate-based MOFs possessing water stability, most do not possess this key feature, hindering their application in industrial settings. Phosphonate monoesters (PMEs) have been investigated as a means to impart water stability to a MOF by kinetically shielding the linker-metal bond with the ester moiety.2 Unfortunately, phosphonate monoesters have relatively unexplored coordination geometries, with most studies focusing on chlodronic acid and its derivatives, which do not typically form porous materials. In an attempt to establish building units based on PMEs, 1,4-benzenediphosphonate monoester ligands have been synthesized, coordinated to Cu(II), and characterized. It was found that while the methyl and ethyl analogues form similar 3-D structures with poor water stability,3 the isopropyl analogue forms a layered material possessing water stability. The isopropyl analogue contains chains of Cu-PME, with the isopropyl esters lying directly above and below the Cu atoms, kinetically shielding this bond from water. This water stable building unit was predicted to generate a porous framework with non-linear ligands. To test this hypothesis, 1,3,5-benzenetriphosphonate monoisopropyl ester was synthesized and coordinated to Cu(II). Unfortunately, no single crystal of sufficient quality has been produced, though a predicted and refined structure matches well to various characterization techniques. As predicted, this material is porous and does not degrade in harsh humid conditions (353K and 90% relative humidity).

Switching of single-molecule magnetic properties of TbIII -porphyrin double-decker complexes and observation of their supramolecular structures on a carbon surface.

Double-decker complexes based on single-molecule magnets (SMMs) are a class of highly promising molecules for applications in molecular spintronics, wherein control of both the ligand oxidative states and the 2D supramolecular structure on carbon materials is of great importance. This study focuses on the synthesis and study of 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethylporphyrin (OEP)-Tb(III) double-decker complexes with different electronic structures comprising protonated, anionic, and radical forms. Magnetic susceptibility measurements revealed that only the anionic and radical forms of the OEP-Tb(III) double-decker complexes exhibited SMM properties. The barrier heights for magnetic moment reversal were estimated to be 207 and 215 cm(-1) for the anionic and radical forms, respectively. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) investigations revealed that these OEP-Tb(III) complexes form well-ordered monolayers upon simple dropcasting from dilute dichloromethane solutions. All three complexes form an isomorphic pseudo-hexagonal 2D pattern, regardless of the differences in the electronic structures of their porphyrin-Tb cores. This finding is of interest for SMM technology as ultrathin films of these materials undergoing chemical transformations will not require any detrimental reorganization. Finally, we demonstrate self-assembly of the protonated 5,15-bisdodecylporphyrin (BDP)-Tb(III) double-decker complex as an example of successful supramolecular design to achieve controlled alignment of SMM-active sites.

A new dinuclear copper(II) complex of unexpected formation with the 1-[2-(ethylamino)methyl]pyrazole ligand presents a curious Ferris wheel-like shape at supramolecular self-assembly

The crystallization of [CuCl2(L1)] (L1=bis-[(1-pyrazolyl)methyl]ethylamine) by ethanol/hexane solvent diffusion afforded the compound [CuCl2(L2)]2 (L2=1-[2-(ethylamino)methyl]pyrazole), which has been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, conductivity measurements, infrared and UV–vis spectroscopies. There are very few polynuclear complexes with N-alkylaminopyrazole ligands reported so far. Especially L2 ligand, which is forming the binuclear copper(II) complex has been obtained for the first time here. The crystal structure consists of a dimeric unit in which the copper(II) atoms are five-coordinated in a distorted square pyramidal geometry with two nitrogen and two chlorine atoms in the base and one chlorine in the apical vertex. At the supramolecular level attractive structural designs are obtained, particularly, a peculiar Ferris wheel-like shape along the (110) direction. Hydrogen bonds constitute the main pillars of the supramolecular self-assembly observed.

ChemInform Abstract: Supramolecular Assemblies by Charge‐Transfer Interactions Between Donor and Acceptor Chromophores

AbstractReview: 159 refs.

Supramolecular Clippers for Controlling Photophysical Processes through Preorganized Chromophores

A novel supramolecular clipping design for influencing the photophysical properties of functional molecular assemblies, by the preorganization (clipping) of chromophores, is described. Several chromophores end functionalized with molecular recognition units were designed. These molecular recognition units serve as handles to appropriately position these systems upon noncovalent interactions with multivalent guest molecules (supramolecular clippers). Towards this goal, we have synthesized 1,5-dialkoxynaphthalene (DAN) and naphthalenediimide (NDI) functionalized with dipicolylethylenediamine (DPA) motifs. These molecules could preorganize upon noncovalent clipping with adenosine di- or triphosphates, which resulted in preassociated excimers and mixed (cofacial) charge-transfer (CT) assemblies. Chiral guest binding could also induce supramolecular chirality, not only into the individual chromophoric assembly but also into the heteromeric CT organization, as seen from the strong circular dichroism (CD) signal of the CT transition. The unique ability of this design to influence the intermolecular interactions by changing the binding strength of the clippers furthermore makes it very attractive for controlling the bimolecular photophysical processes.

Biocrystallography in Switzerland: Achievements and Future Perspectives.

The first protein crystallography group in Switzerland was installed at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel approximately 40 years ago. Since then protein crystallography has grown and matured remarkably and is now established in the molecular biology, biochemistry or biological medicine departments of most major Swiss Universities as well as in the pharmaceutical industry and in biotech startup companies. Swiss X-ray biocrystallography groups have made remarkable contributions from the beginning and have brought Switzerland to the forefront in biostructural research during the last 5 to 10 years. Switzerland has now a leading position in the areas of supramolecular complexes, membrane proteins and structure-based drug design in pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Protein crystallography on the outer membrane protein ompF as well as the development of the lipidic cubic phase crystallization methodology has been pioneered at the Biozentrum. The latter found its somewhat late recognition through the recent explosion in structure determinations of the seven transmembrane helix G-coupled receptors. Highlights from Swiss structural biology groups in the field of supramolecular complexes include the structures of ribosomal particles, of the nucleosome and the pilus assembly complex of uropathogenic E. coli. On the membrane protein side advances in the field of ABC transporters and ion channels are world-recognized achievements of Swiss structural biology. Dedicated laboratories at many academic and industrial institutions, their current research programs, the availability of excellent infrastructure and the continuing efforts to build new facilities such as the SwissFEL indicate an even brighter future for structural biology in Switzerland.