Controlled Molecular Assembly via Dynamic Confinement of Solvent.

Assembly from ultrasmall solution droplets follows a different dynamic from that of larger scales. Using an independently controlled microfluidic probe in an atomic force microscope, subfemtoliter aqueous droplets containing polymers produce well-defined features with dimensions as small as tens of nanometers. The initial shape of the droplet and the concentration of solute within the droplet play significant roles in the final assembly of polymers due to the ultrafast evaporation rate and spatial confinement by the small droplets. These effects are used to control the final molecular assembly in terms of feature geometry and distribution and packing of individual molecules within the features. This work introduces new means of control over molecular assembly, bringing us closer to programmable synthesis for chemistry and materials science. The outcomes pave the way for three-dimensional (3D) nanoprinting in additive manufacturing.

Simulation and Experiments To Identify Factors Allowing Synthetic Control of Structural Features of Polymeric Nanoparticles.

To develop a detailed picture of the microscopic structure of gelcore star polymers and to elucidate parameters of the synthetic process that might be exploited to control this structure, simulations of their synthesis were performed that were based on a particular synthetic approach. A range of results was observed from gelation at high reactant concentrations to the formation of various sizes and compositions of star polymers. Contrary to the prevailing experimental viewpoint, the simulations always suggest the production of a broad distribution of star polymer sizes. However, the GPC traces computed from simulation results are in good qualitative agreement with experiment. Topologically, the gelcore star polymers produced by simulation are not compact but, rather, sparse blobs loosely connected by filaments of linker when modeled in a good solvent. This is reflected in scaling relationships that relate polymer size (e.g., radius of gyration) and degree of polymerization. The arm-core composition is observed to be stoichiometric, strongly reflecting relative reactant concentrations during the synthesis. Reactions within star polymers that result in greater intramolecular cross-linking compete with those between star polymers that result in the production of larger star polymers from the joining of smaller ones. The balance in this competition can be controlled through the overall reactant concentration to limit and control resulting star polymer size. Therefore, the mean size, as well as the mean number of arms, can be controlled during synthesis by careful tuning of the overall ratio of the arm and linker reactant concentrations and the total reactant concentration.

Toward biodegradable nanogel star polymers via organocatalytic ROP.

Organocatalytic ring opening polymerization (OROP) is used to effect the rapid, scalable, room temperature formation of size-controlled, highly uniform, polyvalent, nanogel star polymer nanoparticles of biodegradable composition.

Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Star Polymeric Molecules with Diblock Arms, a Comparative Study.

We have performed all atom explicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations of three different star polymeric systems in water, each star molecule consisting of 16 diblock copolymer arms bound to a small adamantane core. The arms of each system consist of an inner "hydrophobic" block (either polylactide, polyvalerolactone, or polyethylene) and an outer hydrophilic block (polyethylene oxide, PEO). These models exhibit unusual structure very close to the core (clearly an artifact of our model) but which we believe becomes "normal" or bulk-like at relatively short distances from this core. We report on a number of temperature-dependent thermodynamic (structural/energetic) properties as well as kinetic properties. Our observations suggest that under physiological conditions, the hydrophobic regions of these systems may be solid and glassy, with only rare and shallow penetration by water, and that a sharp boundary exists between the hydrophobic cores and either the PEO or water. The PEO in these models is seen to be fully water-solvated at low temperatures but tends to phase separate from water as the temperature is increased, reminiscent of a lower critical solution temperature exhibited by PEO-water mixtures. Water penetration concentration and depth is composition and temperature dependent with greater water penetration for the most ester-rich star polymer.

Simple approach to stabilized micelles employing miktoarm terpolymers and stereocomplexes with application in paclitaxel delivery.

A simple and versatile approach to miktoarm co- and terpolymers from carbonate functional oligomers is described. The key building block employed is a carboxylic acid functional cyclic carbonate, derived from 2,2-bis(methylol)propionic acid, that was readily coupled to a hydroxyl functional monomethylether poly(ethylene glycol) oligomer. Ring-opening of the cyclic carbonate using functional amines generates a carbamate linkage bearing a functional group capable of initiating either controlled radical or ring-opening polymerization, together with a primary hydroxyl group for ring-opening polymerization. Two tandem polymerization steps were possible which add the second two arms, thus generating the targeted ABC miktoarm terpolymer. The resulting amphiphilic miktoarm terpolymers containing poly(D- and L-lactide) formed polylactide stereocomplexes in the bulk. In aqueous solution, the stereocomplex mixture of Y-shaped miktoarm copolymers, poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(D-lactide)-poly(D-lactide) and poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(L-lactide)-poly(L-lactide), or the stereoblock miktoarm poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(D-lactide)-poly(L-lactide) form stabilized micelles with a significantly lower critical micelle concentration than those derived from conventional stereo regular linear or Y-shaped amphiphiles. This simple and versatile approach provides a useful synthetic route to complex macromolecular architectures that can assemble into stable micelles. These micelles provide high capacity for loading of the anticancer drug paclitaxel and possess narrow size distribution as well as unique structure, leading to sustained and near zero-ordered release of drug without significant initial burst.

A novel modular approach to triazole-functionalized phthalocyanines using click chemistry.

A novel, elegant, and significantly improved protocol for the synthesis of a protected octaacetylene phthalocyanine is described. Inexpensive, mild, and environmentally benign iodination of 1,2-dibromobenzene and subsequent optimized chemoselective palladium-catalyzed cyanation are employed to effectively build up the key intermediate 4,5-dibromophthalonitrile in two steps. Introduction of the tert-butyldimethylsilyl-protected acetylene moieties via a Sonogashira cross-coupling provides the desired phthalonitrile precursor that, after cyclization, yielded the protected octaacetylene phthalocyanine. Subsequently, in situ deprotection and "clicking" are employed as a highly efficient and quantitative route to a novel class of octatriazole-functionalized phthalocyanines. The ability of such triazole-derived phthalocyanines to form well-defined supramolecular structures upon doping with zinc(II) triflate is demonstrated.

Structural induced control of energy transfer within Zn(II)-porphyrin dendrimers.

We report on a study of singlet-singlet annihilation kinetics in a series of Zn(II)-porphyrin-appended dendrimers, where the energy transfer efficiency is significantly improved by extending the molecular chain that connects the light-harvesting chromophores to the dendrimeric backbone with one additional carbon. For the largest dendrimer having 64 Zn(II)-porphyrins, only approximately 10% of the excitation intensity is needed in order to observe the same extent of annihilation in the dendrimers with the additional carbon in the connecting chain as compared to those without. Complete annihilation, until only one chromophore remains excited, now occurs within subunits of seven chromophores, when half of the chromophores are excited. The improvement of the annihilation efficiency in the largest dendrimer with 64 porphyrins can be explained by the presence of a the two-step delayed annihilation process, involving energy hopping from excited to nonexcited chromophores prior to annihilation. In the smallest dendrimer with only four chromophores, delayed annihilation is not present, since the direct annihilation process is more efficient than the two-step delayed annihilation process. As the dendrimer size increases and the chances of originally exciting two neighboring chromophores decreases, the delayed annihilation process becomes more visible. The additional carbon, added to the connecting chain, results in more favorable chromophore distances and orientations for energy hopping. Hence, the improved energy transfer properties makes the Zn(II)-porphyrin-appended dendrimers with the additional carbon promising candidates as light-harvesting antennas for artificial photosynthesis.

Electrochemical studies of porphyrin-appended dendrimers.

The electrochemical properties of porphyrin-appended dendrimers containing 2-, 4-, 8-, 16-, 32- and 64-porphyrin macrocycles in their free-base and zinc(II) forms have been investigated. Both series gave diffusional based voltammetric responses in dichloromethane. There was minimal effect of dendrimer generation on the redox potentials. Multiple pi-cation and anion radicals as well as dications and dianions were formed on the surface of the dendrimers on oxidation or reduction as appropriate, with each cyclic voltammetric wave representing electron transfer to or from multiple non-interacting porphyrin sites. Electrostatic interactions in the higher generation dendrimers result in kinetic effects being observed for the highly charged species generated when each porphyrin unit is doubly or triply oxidised. The number of electrons transferred on reduction or oxidation of the dendrimers was evaluated using steady-state microelectrode voltammetry. For the lower generations of species a good correlation was observed between numbers of electrons transferred and number of porphyrin entities per molecule; for the dendrimers containing 32 and 64 units, however, slight negative deviations were observed, possibly due to electrostatic interactions as the porphyrins become closer packed.

Tunable command layers for liquid crystal alignment.

A simple method for the construction of a stable, tunable, self-assembled command layer for liquid crystal display purposes is described. A pyridine-functionalized oligosiloxane spontaneously forms an anisotropic, grooved surface on indium-tin-oxide, enabling it to align liquid crystalline molecules. The pyridine functions act as seeds for the epitaxial growth of stacks of highly ordered zinc phthalocyanines, the height of which can be controlled. These stacks increase the interaction between the surface and the liquid crystalline matrix by amplifying the surface ordering into the liquid crystal bulk. By varying the height of the stacks, direct control over the properties of the liquid crystal domains is achieved. These properties can be further tuned by adding to the liquid crystal, micro- and nanomolar concentrations of nitrogen-containing compounds, which are capable of interacting with and dissolving the stacks. The procedures we describe offer possibilities to use such tunable systems in LCD-based sensor devices as well as in solar-cell applications.

Chiral molecular tapes from novel tetra(thiafulvalene-crown-ether)-substituted phthalocyanine building blocks.

A tetra(thiafulvalene-crown-ether) phthalocyanine self-assembles into helical tapes nanometers wide and micrometers long. Formation of these scrolled molecular architectures is a first for phthalocyanine fibres and shows potential as a novel conducting material.

Energy transfer within Zn-porphyrin dendrimers: study of the singlet-singlet annihilation kinetics.

In this article, we explore energy transfer processes within a series of Zn-porphyrin-appended dendrimers by means of excitation intensity dependent transient absorption measurements. We report singlet-singlet annihilation on two distinct time scales of 18 +/- 5 ps and 130 +/- 10 ps in the dimer and the dendrimers. The two distinct processes reflect the presence of two structural conformer distributions. Analysis of the singlet-singlet annihilation transient kinetics shows that sequential annihilation occurs within subunits up to four Zn-porphyrins in the dendrimers. The onset of the singlet-singlet annihilation process depending on the size of the molecule reveals a difference in the number of communicating Zn-porphyrins. We further report a full characterization of the transient absorption kinetics of the monomer over a spectral range from 450 to 730 nm.