Cavity-Shape-Dependent Divergent Chemical Reaction inside Aqueous PdL Cages.

Chemical reactions inside the confined pockets of enzyme-mimicking hosts, such as cages and macrocycles, have been an emerging field of interest over the past decade. Although many such reactions are known, the use of such cages toward the divergent synthesis of nonisomeric products has not been well explored. Divergent synthesis is a technique of forming two or more distinct products from the same reagents by changing the catalyst or reaction conditions.

Fabrication of soft-nanocomposites from functional molecules with diversified applications.

With the increasing demand for new soft materials having excellent physical and biological characteristics and functionality, the design of hybrid materials offers a simple, yet versatile platform for the development of materials with specific and tunable properties. By definition a "soft-nanocomposite" is the combination of supramolecular self-assemblies with nanomaterials of different origins (inorganic/metallic nanoparticles and carbonaceous allotropes like carbon nanotubes and graphene) through covalent/non-covalent interactions. Dynamic supramolecular self-assemblies can serve as excellent hosts for the incorporation of these dimensionally different nanomaterials.

Fabrication of Orange-Emitting Organic Nanoparticle-Protamine Conjugate: Fluorimetric Sensor of Heparin.

Among the diverse sensing techniques, fluorimetric detection dominates over the other methods because of its rapid signaling, high selectivity and sensitivity, and operational simplicity. This present article delineates fabrication of a fluorescent organic nanoparticle-protamine (FONP-Pro) conjugate for selective and sensitive detection of heparin simply by exploitation of the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) property of the FONPs. Naphthalene diimide-based bola-type amphiphilic molecules (NDI-) comprise a naphthyl residue and a 3-aminopyridyl unit at both terminals, forming organic nanoparticles in a dimethyl sulfoxide-water binary solvent mixture, and exhibited AIE through excimer formation.

Carbon Dots-Stimulated Amplification of Aggregation-Induced Emission of Size-Tunable Organic Nanoparticles.

Carbon dots (CDs)-induced microstructural modulation and amplification of emission intensity of self-aggregated fluorescent organic nanoparticles (FONPs) is a challenging task since CD is a well-known fluorescence quencher. In the present study, we have designed l-tyrosine-tagged hydrophobically (C-10) tailored naphthalene diimide derivative (NDI-), which formed FONPs in tetrahydrofuran (THF)-water binary solvent mixture. NDI- exhibited aggregation-induced emission (AIE) at 580 nm (orange) up to = 70 vol % of water in THF via excimer formation in combination with intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) upon excitation at 350 nm.

Microstructure characterization of biocompatible heterojunction hydrogen titanate-AgO nanocomposites for superior visible light photocatalysis and antibacterial activity.

Hydrogen trititanate (HTiO·2HO) and hydrogen trititanate/AgO hybrid nanocomposites (NCs) with novel structure have been synthesized by a simple solvothermal route followed by Na/H ion-exchange. Growths of hydrogen trititanate with nanofiber (HTNF) and nanotube (HTNT) morphologies and hydrogen trititanate-AgO (HTFAG and HTTAG) nanocomposites have been tailored by controlling the solvent media. Detailed microstructure characterization of all these samples have been carried out by Rietveld refinement of XRD data and analyzing FESEM/HRTEM micrographs and FTIR spectra.

Self-assembly of surface functionalized amphiphilic carbon dots: tuning in morphological manifestations.

Despite the continuous surge of interest in supramolecular chemistry, the design and synthesis of building blocks to develop diverse examples of self-assemblies is still challenging. During the past decades, formation of self-assemblies such as micelles, vesicles, and gels with a fibril network using amphiphiles has been investigated at length. Considering the increasing applications of these self-aggregates across the scientific domain, it is crucial to adopt an alternative strategy for the preparation of self-aggregates using a new building block that has been applied in diverse domains.

Tunable Aggregation-Induced Multicolor Emission of Organic Nanoparticles by Varying the Substituent in Naphthalene Diimide.

In this article, we have designed l-aspartic acid-linked naphthalene diimide (NDI)-based amphiphilic molecules having a benzyl ester group at both the terminals with varying substituents (NAB-1-5). The substituent was judiciously modified from an electron-withdrawing group (EWG) like nitrobenzene to an electron-donating group (EDG), methoxybenzene, and finally to an extended aromatic residue (naphthalene) to regulate the π-electron density at the terminal of NDI derivatives. All of the synthesized NDI derivatives were molecularly dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and with an increase in the water content within the DMSO solution, the NDI derivative starts to get self-assembled through J-aggregation at and above 40% water content.

Vesicle formation by cholesterol based hydrazone tethered amphiphiles: Stimuli responsive dissipation of self-assembly.

Stimuli are one of the key parameters to achieve a control over the association/dissociation of molecular tectons in self-assemblies. In this present article, we synthesized cholesterol based pH-sensitive hydrazone-tailored low molecular mass amphiphiles (CBH-1-3). The hydrazone residue was modified by varying the carbonyl moieties from aldehyde (benzaldehyde (CBH-1), p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (CBH-2)) to ketone (benzophenone (CBH-3)).

Tailor-Made Self-Assemblies from Functionalized Amphiphiles: Diversity and Applications.

The objective of this feature article is to coalesce our recent advancements on different expressions of tailor-made supramolecular self-assemblies and to explore them as a function of molecular architecture. In the last decade, we have developed a library of elegant and simple functional amphiphilic small molecules, which have very interesting abilities to form diverse manifestations of supramolecular self-assemblies such as micelles, reverse micelles, vesicles, fibers, supramolecular gels, and so on. Each of the expressions of the self-aggregated structures has its individual prominence and finds important applications in the fields of chemistry, physics, biology, and others.

Dissipation of self-assemblies by fusion of complementary gels: an elegant strategy for programmed enzymatic reactions.

Cholesterol based phenylboronic acid and glucose tailored complementary gels were developed which underwent mutual self-destruction upon mixing due to the formation of a boronate-diol adduct. This dissipation of the complementary gels was employed in a programmed enzymatic reaction and in pro-drug activation.

l-Phenylalanine-Tethered, Naphthalene Diimide-Based, Aggregation-Induced, Green-Emitting Organic Nanoparticles.

The present article delineates the formation of green fluorescent organic nanoparticle through supramolecular aggregation of naphthalene diimide (NDI)-based, carboxybenzyl-protected, l-phenylalanine-appended bola-amphiphile, NDI-1. The amphiphilic molecule is soluble in DMSO, and, with gradual addition of water within the DMSO solution, the amphiphile starts to self-assemble via H-type aggregation to form spherical nanoparticles. These self-assembly of NDI-1 in the presence of a high amount of water exhibited aggregation-induced emission (AIE) through excimer formation.

Salt metathesis for developing injectable supramolecular metallohydrogelators as a multi-drug-self-delivery system.

Salt metathesis has been exploited to generate a series of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) based Zn(ii) metallohydrogels displaying both anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties. Relatively low cytotoxicity, rheoreversibility and injectibility of one of these hydrogels make it suitable for multi-drug-self-delivery application.

Solvent Induced Morphological Evolution of Cholesterol Based Glucose Tailored Amphiphiles: Transformation from Vesicles to Nanoribbons.

Supramolecular self-assembly of low molecular mass amphiphiles is of topical interest with the urge to achieve precise control over the formation of various self-aggregated structures. Particularly, fabrication of multifarious nanostructures from single molecular backbone would be highly advantageous for task specific applications of the self-aggregates. To this end, the present study reports the solvent triggered evolution of hierarchical self-assembled structures of cholesterol based glucose appended amphiphiles and the pathway of structural transition.

Hydrophobic End-Modulated Amino-Acid-Based Neutral Hydrogelators: Structure-Specific Inclusion of Carbon Nanomaterials.

Hydrophobic end-modulated l-phenylalanine-containing triethylene glycol monomethyl ether tagged neutral hydrogelators (1-4) are developed. Investigations determine the gelators' structure-dependent inclusion of carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) in the self-assembled fibrillar network (SAFIN). The gelators (1, 3, and 4) can immobilize water and aqueous buffer (pH 3-7) with a minimum gelator concentration of 10-15 mg mL(-1).