Themed collection Editor’s Choice – Subi George
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Dynamic spatial and structural organization in artificial cells regulates signal processing by protein scaffolding
Engineered artificial cells respond to environmental cues through a pre-programmed enzymatic machinery that induces spatio-structural organization and activation of effector proteins at the lipid membrane.
Chem. Sci., 2020,11, 12829-12834
https://doi.org/10.1039/D0SC03933K
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Dissipative self-assembly, competition and inhibition in a self-reproducing protocell model
The bottom-up synthesis of a self-reproducing protocell model enables the study of emergent properties distinctive to life.
Chem. Sci., 2020,11, 9434-9442
https://doi.org/10.1039/D0SC02768E
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Consequences of hidden kinetic pathways on supramolecular polymerization
We show that hidden kinetic states have a dramatic impact on the thermodynamics of supramolecular polymerization, enabling new aggregation pathways with potentially new functionalities.
Chem. Sci., 2020,11, 6780-6788
https://doi.org/10.1039/D0SC02115F
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Bottom-up device fabrication via the seeded growth of polymer-based nanowires
Living crystallisation-driven self-assembly facilitates the bottom-up assembly of electronic devices.
Chem. Sci., 2020,11, 6222-6228
https://doi.org/10.1039/D0SC02011G
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ATP-fuelled self-assembly to regulate chemical reactivity in the time domain
The addition of ATP under dissipative conditions to a complex mixture causes the transient upregulation of hydrazone-bond formation.
Chem. Sci., 2020,11, 1518-1522
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SC05188K
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Self-sorting of two imine-based metal complexes: balancing kinetics and thermodynamics in constitutional dynamic networks
Constitutional dynamic networks have been developed to simultaneously control the output of two interconnected dynamic processes over several species of the same reaction mixture.
Chem. Sci., 2020,11, 1114-1121
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SC04988F
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Supramolecular assembly of bent dinuclear amphiphilic alkynylplatinum(II) terpyridine complexes: diverse nanostructures through subtle tuning of the mode of molecular stacking
A new class of bent amphiphilic alkynylplatinum(II) terpyridine complexes was found to adopt different modes of molecular stacking to give diverse nanostructures.
Chem. Sci., 2020,11, 499-507
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SC04475B
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A facile way to obtain near-infrared room-temperature phosphorescent soft materials based on Bodipy dyes
Near-infrared room-temperature phosphorescence was achieved by employing iodine substituted Bodipy into amorphous polymers. The self-healable gels were also obtained with the incorporation of a crosslinker and quadruple hydrogen bond based moieties.
Chem. Sci., 2020,11, 482-487
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SC05502A
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Understanding the multiscale self-assembly of metal–organic polyhedra towards functionally graded porous gels
Time-resolved dynamic light scattering unveiled the multiscale self-assembly mechanism of metal–organic polyhedra and allowed for inducing asymmetry in a porous gel.
Chem. Sci., 2019,10, 10833-10842
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SC04543K
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Using chirality to influence supramolecular gelation
Different self-assembled structures can be formed by varying the chirality of a functionalised dipeptide allowing gels with different properties to be prepared.
Chem. Sci., 2019,10, 7801-7806
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SC02239B
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Ultralong room-temperature phosphorescence of a solid-state supramolecule between phenylmethylpyridinium and cucurbit[6]uril
We report an ultralong room-temperature phosphorescence (2.62 s) based on cucurbit[6]uril host and phenyl-methyl-pyridinium guest for data encryption. Encapsulation of CB[6] boosts intersystem crossing and suppresses nonradiative relaxation of guest.
Chem. Sci., 2019,10, 7773-7778
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SC02633A
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Fatty acid based transient nanostructures for temporal regulation of artificial peroxidase activity
Natural systems access transient high energy self-assembled structures for temporal regulation of different biological functions through dissipative processes.
Chem. Sci., 2019,10, 7574-7578
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SC02648G
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Organobase triggered controlled supramolecular ring opening polymerization and 2D assembly
Spontaneously aggregation of a carboxylic acid appended NDI can be retarted by intra-molecular H-bonding. With catalytic DMAP or DBU, the meta-stable monomer exhibits living supramolecular polymerization and generates ultra-thin 2D sheet.
Chem. Sci., 2019,10, 7345-7351
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SC01972C
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Living supramolecular polymerization based on reversible deactivation of a monomer by using a ‘dummy’ monomer
New method of living supramolecular polymerization is demonstrated. Spontaneous nucleation of a reactive monomer is suppressed by using a ‘dummy’ monomer. Addition of seeds can initiate supramolecular polymerization in a chain-growth manner.
Chem. Sci., 2019,10, 6770-6776
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SC02151E
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Impact of charge switching stimuli on supramolecular perylene monoimide assemblies
A switchable perylene monoimide which undergoes reversible morphological and electronic changes controlled by the ionization state of the phenolic oxygen.
Chem. Sci., 2019,10, 5779-5786
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8SC05595E
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Highly efficient and very robust blue-excitable yellow phosphors built on multiple-stranded one-dimensional inorganic–organic hybrid chains
Strong, multiple-stranded Cu–N bonds lead to a group of highly emissive 1D-CumIm(L) hybrid yellow phosphors with excellent thermal- and photo-stability.
Chem. Sci., 2019,10, 5363-5372
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SC00970A
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Direct population of triplet excited states through singlet–triplet transition for visible-light excitable organic afterglow
Direct population of triplet states via singlet-to-triplet absorption red-shifts the excitation wavelength and improves the organic afterglow efficiency under ambient conditions.
Chem. Sci., 2019,10, 5031-5038
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8SC05198D
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Towards homochiral supramolecular entities from achiral molecules by vortex mixing-accompanied self-assembly
By using a vortex mixing-accompanied self-assembly strategy, homochiral entities with controlled handedness were obtained from exclusively achiral molecules.
Chem. Sci., 2019,10, 2718-2724
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8SC04687E
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Synergistic self-seeding in one-dimension: a route to patchy and block comicelles with uniform and controllable length
By manipulating both the dissolution sequence of polymer crystallites and the growth rate of polymer unimers, patchy comicelles and block comicelles with uniform and controllable length can be obtained.
Chem. Sci., 2019,10, 2280-2284
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8SC04705G
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Amplified circularly polarized phosphorescence from co-assemblies of platinum(II) complexes
Co-assemblies of platinum(II) complexes produce amplified circularly polarized phosphorescence emission.
Chem. Sci., 2019,10, 1294-1301
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8SC04509G
About this collection
In 2020, Chemical Science welcomed Professor Subi George to the journal as an Associate Editor, handling papers in the areas of supramolecular chemistry and organic materials. Subi has looked back over Chemical Science papers published over the past couple of years and has selected some outstanding articles that he would like to share, with a focus on recent trends in supramolecular polymers, dissipative systems and organic materials. We hope you enjoy reading through this selection.