Orthogonal switch for supramolecular self-assembly

摘要

Adaptive smart materials that can be precisely manipulated with external stimuli are of great interest due to the promise they hold for drug delivery and self-healing materials. Materials that show orthogonal responses to different stimuli, such as hydrogen-bonding and metal-ligand interactions, are of particular interest as their properties can be controlled by multiple inputs. In a first for a self-assembled system based on heteroditopic monomers, Professor Jonathan Sessler of the University of Texas at Austin, Dr Jinho Chang of Sungshin Women's University, Associate Professor Pall Thordarson at the University of New South Wales and coworkers have recently reported supramolecular oligomeric materials that can be self-assembled and disassembled by chemical (base) or electrochemical stimuli (Kim D.S., Chang J., Leem S., Thordarson P., Sessler J.L J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137, 16 038-42).