Symmetrically backfolded molecules emulating the self-similar features of a Sierpinski triangle.

We synthesized self-similar molecules (G3 and G2; based on phenylalkynyl backbones) with symmetrically backfolded shapes inspired by the famous fractal of a Sierpinski triangle. Unlike the more traditional, starburst dendrimers, the centripetal-shaped Sierpinski molecules feature side branches symmetrically bent away from the growth direction of the main branch, thus contrasting the natural-tree shape. Molecule G3 exhibits three distinct levels of the structural hierarchy comprising the primary, secondary and tertiary branches, while the smaller G2 contains only features of the 1 and 2 orders. In spite of the much larger conjugated backbone of G3, its solution UV-vis absorption and fluorescence exhibit no red shift relative to G2. In a test of nitrobenzene sensing, a thin film of G3 deposited from THF was more sensitively quenched in fluorescence than the smaller G2.