Supramolecular Polymerization of a Pillar[5]arene Induced by a Symmetric Biaryl Sulfonate with Dual Binding Sites

• Published in: Asian journal of organic chemistry 2016-03, Vol.5 (3), p.321-324
• Main Authors: Hong, Meiling, Zhang, Ying-Ming, Liu, Yan-Cen, Liu, Yu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Binding sites; cationic pillararenes; multistimuli responsiveness; Organic chemistry; self-assembly; sulfonates; supramolecular polymers
• ISSN: 2193-5807; 2193-5815
• DOI: 10.1002/ajoc.201500448

Macrocycle‐based supramolecular polymers have attracted more interest in recent years and found many practical applications with controlled shape and unique physical and chemical properties. In this work, a binary supramolecular polymer is prepared in water by the strong host‐guest interactions between a cationic pillar[5]arene and a symmetric sulfonate with dual binding sites. Isothermal titration calorimetry measurements show that the binding process of host‐guest complexation is governed in a thermodynamically favorable way with a high stability constant of up to 107 m−1 order of magnitude. Moreover, spectroscopic and microscopic investigations jointly demonstrate that the resulting stable polymer is multistimuli responsive towards temperature and competitive metal coordination. We anticipate that our obtained multistimuli‐responsive supramolecular polymer may offer a new way in the construction of more functionalized pillararene‐based nanoassemblies. Sulf‐assembly: By the introduction of two sulfonate groups, a symmetric guest molecule with dual binding sites was prepared. This compound can form a stable supramolecular polymer with a cationic pillar[5]arene, which is multistimuli responsive towards temperature and competitive metal coordination.