Steering the Self‐Assembly Outcome of a Single NDI Monomer into Three Morphologically Distinct Supramolecular Assemblies, with Concomitant Change in Supramolecular Polymerization Mechanism

Abstract Noncovalent self‐assembly creates an effective route to highly sophisticated supramolecular polymers with tunable properties. However, the outcome of this assembly process is highly dependent on external conditions. In this work, a monomeric naphthalene diimide (NDI), designed to allow solu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Grzegorz Markiewicz, Maarten M. J. Smulders, Artur R. Stefankiewicz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2019-08-01
Series:Advanced Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.201900577
Description
Summary:Abstract Noncovalent self‐assembly creates an effective route to highly sophisticated supramolecular polymers with tunable properties. However, the outcome of this assembly process is highly dependent on external conditions. In this work, a monomeric naphthalene diimide (NDI), designed to allow solubility in a wide range of solvents, can assemble into three distinct noncovalent supramolecular species depending on solvent composition and temperature. Namely, while the self‐assembly in chlorinated solvents yields relatively short, hydrogen‐bonded nanotubes, the reduction of solvent polarity changes the assembly outcome, yielding π–π stacking polymers, which can further bundle into a more complex aggregate. The obtained polymers differ not only in their global morphology but—more strikingly—also in the thermodynamics and kinetics of their supramolecular self‐assembly, involving isodesmic or two‐stage cooperative assembly with kinetic hysteresis, respectively. Ultimately, three distinct assembly states can be accessed in a single experiment.
ISSN:2198-3844