Benjamin E. Partridge

A supramolecular helix that disregards chirality

The functions of complex crystalline systems derived from supramolecular biological and non-biological assemblies typically emerge from homochiral programmed primary structures via first principles involving secondary, tertiary and quaternary structures. In contrast, heterochiral and racemic compounds yield disordered crystals, amorphous solids or liquids. Here, we report the self-assembly of perylene bisimide derivatives in a supramolecular helix that in turn self-organizes in columnar hexagonal crystalline domains regardless of the enantiomeric purity of the perylene bisimide. We show that both homochiral and racemic perylene bisimide compounds, including a mixture of 21 diastereomers that cannot be deracemized at the molecular level, self-organize to form single-handed helical assemblies with identical single-crystal-like order. We propose that this high crystalline order is generated via a cogwheel mechanism that disregards the chirality of the self-assembling building blocks. We anticipate that this mechanism will facilitate access to previously inaccessible complex crystalline systems from racemic and homochiral building blocks.

Increasing 3D Supramolecular Order by Decreasing Molecular Order. A Comparative Study of Helical Assemblies of Dendronized Nonchlorinated and Tetrachlorinated Perylene Bisimides

A nonplanar, twisted, and flexible tetrachlorinated perylene bisimide (Cl4PBI) was functionalized with two AB3 minidendrons containing hydrogenated or semifluorinated dodecyl groups. The hydrogenated dendron was attached to the imide groups of Cl4PBI via m = 0, 1, and 2 methylenic units, whereas the dendron containing semifluorinated groups was attached via m = 3 or a di(ethylene oxide) linker (m = 2EO). The supramolecular structures of these compounds, determined by a combination of differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, and solid-state NMR, were compared with those of nonchlorinated planar and rigid PBI reported previously, which demonstrated the thermodynamically controlled formation of 2D periodic arrays at high temperatures and 3D arrays at low temperatures. The molecularly less ordered Cl4PBI containing hydrogenated dendrons self-organize into exclusively 3D crystalline periodic arrays under thermodynamic control for m = 0 and 2, while the more highly molecularly ordered PBI produced less stable and ordered 3D crystals and also 2D assemblies. This induction of a higher degree of 3D order in supramolecular assemblies of the less well-ordered molecular building blocks was unanticipated. The semifluorinated dendronized Cl4PBI with m = 3 formed a 2D columnar hexagonal array under kinetic control, whereas the compound with m = 2EO formed an unusual 2D honeycomb-like hexagonal phase under thermodynamic control. These Cl4PBI compounds provide a new route to stable crystalline assemblies via thermodynamic control at lower temperatures than previously obtained with PBI, thus generating 3D order in an accessible range of temperature of interest for structural analysis and for technological applications.

Complex Columnar Hexagonal Polymorphism in Supramolecular Assemblies of a Semifluorinated Electron-Accepting Naphthalene Bisimide

Simple synthetic methods for a strongly electron-accepting naphthalene bisimide (NBI) derivative functionalized with a new environmentally friendly chiral racemic semifluorinated alkyl group and with AB3 minidendrons containing the same semifluorinated group are reported. The semifluorinated dendron was attached to the imide groups of the NBI via one, two, and three (m = 1, 2, 3) methylenic units. The NBI-containing semifluorinated groups and the dendronized NBI with m = 1 and 2 self-organize into lamellar crystals. The dendronized NBI with m = 3 self-assembles into an unprecedentedly complex and ordered column that self-organizes in a columnar hexagonal periodic array. This array undergoes a continuous transition to a columnar hexagonal superlattice that does not display a first-order phase transition during analysis by differential scanning calorimetry at heating and cooling rates of 10 and 1 °C/min. These complex columnar hexagonal periodic arrays with intramolecular order could be elucidated only by a combination of powder and fiber X-ray diffraction studies and solid-state NMR experiments. The lamellar crystals self-organized from m = 1 and the two highly ordered columnar hexagonal periodic arrays of m = 3 are assembled via thermodynamically controlled processes. Since strongly electron-accepting derivatives are of great interest to replace fullerene acceptors in organic photovoltaics and for other supramolecular electronic materials, the multitechnique structural analysis methodology elaborated here must be taken into consideration in all related studies.

Tetrahedral Arrangements of Perylene Bisimide Columns via Supramolecular Orientational Memory

Chiral, shape, and liquid crystalline memory effects are well-known to produce commercial macroscopic materials with important applications as springs, sensors, displays, and memory devices. A supramolecular orientational memory effect that provides complex nanoscale arrangements was only recently reported. This supramolecular orientational memory was demonstrated to preserve the molecular orientation and packing within supramolecular units of a self-assembling cyclotriveratrylene crown at the nanoscale upon transition between its columnar hexagonal and Pm3̅n cubic periodic arrays. Here we report the discovery of supramolecular orientational memory in a dendronized perylene bisimide (G2-PBI) that self-assembles into tetrameric crowns and subsequently self-organizes into supramolecular columns and spheres. This supramolecular orientation memory upon transition between columnar hexagonal and body-centered cubic (BCC) mesophases preserves the 3-fold cubic [111] orientations rather than the 4-fold [100] axes, generating an unusual tetrahedral arrangement of supramolecular columns. These results indicate that the supramolecular orientational memory concept may be general for periodic arrays of self-assembling dendrons and dendrimers as well as for other periodic and quasiperiodic nanoscale organizations comprising supramolecular spheres, generated from other organized complex soft matter including block copolymers and surfactants.

Losing supramolecular orientational memory via self-organization of a misfolded secondary structure

Supramolecular orientational memory (SOM) provides a route to otherwise inaccessible nanoscale architectures for certain molecules. In these privileged cases, columnar domains organized from self-assembling dendrons undergo reorientation during heating to, and subsequent cooling from, a 3D phase composed of “spheres”, such as a body-centered cubic phase or a Pmn cubic phase, known also as Frank-Kasper A15. The directions of the reoriented columns preserve key interactions from the preceding cubic phase. However, SOM was observed so far in a very limited number of assemblies. The molecular determinants enabling SOM, and its generality, remain poorly understood. Here we report the synthesis and structural and retrostructural analysis of a perylene bisimide (PBI) with two self-assembling benzyl ether dendrons, 3,5-G2-PBI, and compare its assemblies with those of a previously reported PBI, 3,4,5-G2-PBI, which exhibits SOM and has an additional minidendritic building block in its dendrons. The removal of this minidendron in 3,5-G2-PBI eliminates its ability to self-assemble into supramolecular spheres and organize into a cubic phase, thereby precluding 3,5-G2-PBI from exhibiting SOM. This finding demonstrates hierarchical transfer of structural information from primary structure to material function, analogous to the misfolding of proteins into toxic structures such as those implicated in Alzheimers and Prion diseases. The concepts exemplified here provide new insights into the hierarchical basis for SOM and will aid in the translation of the SOM concept to a broader diversity of soft matter such as block copolymers and surfactants.

Hierarchical Self-Organization of Chiral Columns from Chiral Supramolecular Spheres

The supramolecular column is an archetypal architecture in the field of periodic liquid crystalline and crystalline arrays. Columns are generated via self-assembly, coassembly, and polymerization of monomers containing molecules shaped as discs, tapered, twin- and Janus-tapered, crowns, hat-shaped crowns, and fragments thereof. These supramolecular columns can be helical and therefore exhibit chirality. In contrast, spheres represent a fundamentally distinct architecture, generated from conical and crown-like molecules, which self-organize into body-centered cubic, Pm3̅ n cubic (also known as Frank-Kasper A15), and tetragonal (also known as Frank-Kasper σ) phases. Supramolecular spherical aggregates are not known to further assemble into a columnar architecture, except as an intermediate state between a columnar periodic array and a cubic phase. In the present work, a chiral dendronized cyclotetraveratrylene (CTTV) derivative is demonstrated to self-organize into a supramolecular column unexpectedly constructed from supramolecular spheres, with no subsequent transition to a cubic phase. Structural and retrostructural analysis using a combination of differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), molecular modeling, and simulation of XRD patterns reveals that this CTTV derivative, which is functionalized with eight chiral first-generation minidendrons, self-organizes via a column-from-spheres model. The transition from column to column-from-spheres was monitored by circular dichroism spectroscopy, which demonstrated that both the supramolecular column and supramolecular spheres are chiral. This column-from-spheres model, which unites two fundamentally distinct self-assembled architectures, provides a new mechanism to self-organize supramolecular columnar architectures.