High aspect ratio nanotubes assembled from macrocyclic iminium salts.

ABSTRACT: One-dimensional nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes and actin filaments rely on strong and directional interactions to stabilize their high aspect ratio shapes. This requirement has precluded making isolated, long, thin organic nanotubes by stacking molecular macrocycles, as their noncovalent stacking interactions are generally too weak. Here we report high aspect ratio (>103), lyotropic nanotubes of stacked, macrocyclic, iminium salts, which are formed by protonation of the corresponding imine-linked macrocycles. Iminium ion formation establishes cohesive interactions that, in organic solvent (tetrahydrofuran), are two orders of magnitude stronger than the neutral macrocycles, as explained by physical arguments and demonstrated by molecular dynamics simulations. Nanotube formation sta

SUBMITTER: Sun C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6130376 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature