Ionic self-assembly of pillar[5]arenes: proton-conductive liquid crystals and aqueous nanoobjects with encapsulation properties

Abstract

Liquid crystal (LC) pillar[n]arenes have been barely explored due to their time-consuming and complicated synthesis, despite their promising properties for metal-ion separation, drug delivery, or surface functionalization. Herein, we report an easy and reliable method to functionalize pillar[n]arene macrocycles through electrostatic interactions. These ionic materials were prepared by ionically functionalizing a pillar[n]arene containing ten amine terminal groups with six different carboxylic acids. This supramolecular approach results in ionic pillar[n]arenes which self-organize into LC phases with good proton-conducting properties. Moreover, ionic functionalization provides a new amphiphilic character to the pillar[n]arenes, which self-assemble in water to produce a variety of nanoobjects (i.e., spherical or cylindrical micelles, vesicles, solid nanospheres, or nanotubes) that are capable of encapsulating a model hydrophobic drug. Interestingly, the presence of coumarin moieties in the chemical structure of the ionic pillar[n]arenes results in self-organized materials with light-responsive properties due to the ability of coumarins to undergo photo-induced [2+2] cycloaddition. In particular, we demonstrate that coumarin pohotodimerization can be employed to fabricate mechanically stable proton-conductive LC materials, as well as to obtain photo-responsive nanocarriers with light-induced release of encapsulated molecules.