p-Quaterphenylene as an Aggregation-Induced Emission Fluorogen in Supramolecular Organogels and Fluorescent Sensors

Yue Sun; Yi-Xuan Wang; Mengjiao Wu; Wei Yuan; Yulan Chen

doi:10.1002/asia.201601388

p-Quaterphenylene as an Aggregation-Induced Emission Fluorogen in Supramolecular Organogels and Fluorescent Sensors

Chem Asian J. 2017 Jan 3;12(1):52-59. doi: 10.1002/asia.201601388. Epub 2016 Dec 20.

Authors

Yue Sun¹, Yi-Xuan Wang¹, Mengjiao Wu¹, Wei Yuan¹, Yulan Chen¹

Affiliation

¹ Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Science, Department of Chemistry, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300354, P. R. China.

PMID: 27996214
DOI: 10.1002/asia.201601388

Abstract

Two dumbbell-shaped organogelators with a p-quaterphenylene core were synthesized, and their self-assembly properties were investigated. These low-molecular-weight gelators could form self-supporting gels in many apolar organic solvents with an H-type aggregation form through a synergic effect of π-π stacking, intermolecular translation-related hydrogen bonding, and van der Waals forces. In comparison to the p-terphenylene-cored gelator, the extended π-conjugated segment improved the gelation efficiency significantly with enhanced gelation rate. Additionally, these p-quaterphenylene-centered gelators exhibited strong fluorescence emission induced by aggregation, which not only provided an in situ method to optically monitor the gelation process, but also endowed these self-assemblies with substantial applications in sensing explosives.

Keywords: aggregation-induced emission; organogelators; self-assembly; sensors.