Issue 3, 2020

Transient supramolecular assembly of a functional perylene diimide controlled by a programmable pH cycle

Abstract

Self-regulating materials require embedded control systems. Active networks of enzymes fulfill this function in living organisms, and the development of chemical controls for synthetic systems is still in its infancy. While previous work has focused on enzymatic controls, small-molecule networks have unexplored potential. We describe a simple small-molecule network that is able to produce transient pH cycles with tunable lagtimes and lifetimes, based on coupling the acid-to-alkali methylene glycol-sulfite reaction to 1,3-propanesultone, a slow acid generator. Applied to transient pH-driven supramolecular self-assembly of a perylene diimide, our system matches the flexibility of in vitro enzymatic systems, including the ability to perform repeated cycles of assembly and disassembly.

Graphical abstract: Transient supramolecular assembly of a functional perylene diimide controlled by a programmable pH cycle

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
11 Oct 2019
Accepted
13 Dec 2019
First published
16 Dec 2019
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Soft Matter, 2020,16, 591-594

Transient supramolecular assembly of a functional perylene diimide controlled by a programmable pH cycle

G. Panzarasa, A. L. Torzynski, T. Sai, K. Smith-Mannschott and E. R. Dufresne, Soft Matter, 2020, 16, 591 DOI: 10.1039/C9SM02026H

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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