AN UNEXPECTED FINDING ABOUT HIGHLY ORDERED SUPRAMOLECULAR ASSEMBLIES

摘要

When it comes to creating supramolecular assemblies-complex chemical structures composed of molecules arranged in a highly organized manner-it seems logical to expect more well-ordered molecular building blocks to yield more highly ordered 3D structures. But researchers led by Virgil Percec have found the opposite to be true (DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b02147). In a recent comparative study, the team finds that for at least one class of building blocks, known as dendronized perylene bisimides (PBI), less ordered, twisted, and flexible molecules fare better than more ordered, planar, and rigid ones in the creation of supramolecular structures. The researchers use a variety of analytical techniques, including differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, and solid-state NMR, to characterize the structures.