Design and Synthesis of Stimuli-Responsive Supramolecular Gels via Metal-Coordination and Host-Guest Association
Date Issued
2015
Date
2015
Author(s)
Lee, Yin-Hsuan
Abstract
In supramolecular chemistry, using noncovalent interactions to form the stimuli-responsive supramolecular gels has become a popular research topic. External controls of a self-assembling system also interest the chemists. Common stimuli used to trigger the sol-gel transition of supramolecular gels can be generally separated into physical stimuli, such as temperature, light, and mechanics, and chemical stimuli, like pH, redox, ions, competitive molecules, and solvents. Metal-ligand coordination and host-guest association are two kinds of noncovalent interactions with high binding affinity that have been widely employed in supramolecular systems to enhance mechanical properties of supramolecular gels. These two noncovalent interactions were introduced in our system to build up supramolecular gels, which could be responsive to multiple external stimuli. Terpyridine-ZnII complexation and host-guest chemistry of β-cyclodextrin were successfully utilized for constructing a series of novel supramolecular gels that could response to several stimuli, for instance, ions, competitive molecules, and oxidants. The synthesis and characterization of the supramolecular cross-linkers and polymers with pendant β-cyclodextrin as well as their gelation and response tests were discussed, and also an application of metallomacrocycles for serving as supramolecular glue was demonstrated through a series of adhesion tests.
Subjects
stimuli-responsive supramolecular gels
metal-ligand coordination
host-guest interaction
terpyridine
β-cyclodextrin
Type
thesis