Article pubs.acs.org/JACS
Cite This: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 15950-15957
Enforced Tubular Assembly of Electronically Different Hexakis(m‑Phenylene Ethynylene) Macrocycles: Persistent Columnar Stacking Driven by Multiple Hydrogen-Bonding Interactions Yulong Zhong,† Yi Yang,† Yi Shen,‡ Wenwu Xu,§ Qiuhua Wang,† Alan L. Connor,∥ Xibin Zhou,† Lan He,⊥ Xiao Cheng Zeng,§ Zhifeng Shao,‡ Zhong-lin Lu,*,† and Bing Gong*,†,∥ †
College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China Bio-ID Center, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China § Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, United States ∥ Department of Chemistry, The State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260, United States ⊥ National Institute for Food and Drug Control, Beijing 100050, China ‡
S Supporting Information *
ABSTRACT: Hexakis(m-phenylene ethynylene) (m-PE) macrocycles 1−4, sharing the same hydrogen-bonding side chains but having backbones of different electronic properties, are designed to probe the effectiveness of multiple H-bonding interactions in enforcing columnar assemblies. 1H NMR, absorption, fluorescence, and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy indicate that, compared with analogous macrocycles that self-associate based on aromatic stacking which is highly sensitive to the electronic nature of the macrocyclic backbones, macrocycles 1−4 all exhibit strong aggregation down to the micromolar (μM) concentrations in nonpolar solvents. Increasing solvent polarity quickly weakens aggregation. In THF and DMF, the macrocycles exist as free molecules. The observed solvent effects, along with the behavior of 5-F6 that cannot self-associate via H-bonding, confirm that H-bonding plays the dominating role in driving the self-association of 1−4. The backbone electronic nature does not change the self-assembling pattern common to 1−4. Fluorescence and CD spectra confirm that macrocycles 1−4 assemble anisotropically, forming helical stacks in which adjacent molecules undergo relative rotation to place individual benzene residues in the favorable offset fashion. Columnar alignment of 1−4 is confirmed by atomic force microscopy (AFM), which resolves single tubes consisting of stacked macrocycles. In addition, macrocycles with backbones of different electronic properties are found to undergo heteroassociation, forming hybrid nanotubes. This study has demonstrated the generality of enforcing the alignment of shape-persistent macrocycles, which represents an invaluable addition to the small number of known tubular stacks capable of accommodating structurally varied molecular components and provides self-assembling nanotubes with inner pores allowing ready structural and functional modification.
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INTRODUCTION
Organic nanotubes offer unique advantages such as ready functionalization, versatile compatibility, and modular molecular recognition. Among known strategies,1,5−11 the stacking of cavity-containing building blocks1,12−14 provides a conceptually straightforward route for constructing organic nanotubes. Such an approach combines the high efficiency of self-assembly with the synthetic availability and modifiability of small molecules. Examples of tubular stacks include those based on cyclic peptides,12 cyclic oligosaccharides,13 metallo-macrocycles,14 cyclic oligo(amide/urea)s,15 cyclic aromatic oligoamides,16 and aromatic oligoamide foldamers.17
Tubular structures, especially those having nanosized inner pores, are attracting wide interest in many areas.1,2 Among various pores, those with small (
