Regioisomeric Tandem Triblock Shape Amphiphiles Based on Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes

Yu Shao; Hang Yin; Peng-Fei Jin; Yu-Sheng Jiang; Shuguang Yang; Wen-Bin Zhang

doi:10.1002/chem.201800895

Regioisomeric Tandem Triblock Shape Amphiphiles Based on Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes

Chemistry. 2018 Aug 22;24(47):12389-12396. doi: 10.1002/chem.201800895. Epub 2018 Jun 7.

Authors

Yu Shao^{1

2}, Hang Yin¹, Peng-Fei Jin¹, Yu-Sheng Jiang¹, Shuguang Yang², Wen-Bin Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry & Physics of Ministry of Education, Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, P.R. China.
² State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Material Science and Engineering, Center for Advanced Low-Dimension Materials, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, P.R. China.

PMID: 29603483
DOI: 10.1002/chem.201800895

Abstract

We report the design, synthesis and self-assembly of a series of tandem triblock shape amphiphile regioisomers composed of one rod-like fluorinated polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (FPOSS) cage tethered with two spherical tert-butyl-POSS (tBPOSS) cages in para-, meta-, and ortho-configurations. Precision syntheses are achieved through sequential "click" reactions and the compounds are thoroughly characterized by combined techniques of NMR, FT-IR and MALDI-TOF MS spectroscopy. Only the ortho-isomer forms an ordered lamellae structure induced by the crystallization of perfluoroalkyl-chains and the other two remain amorphous due to frustrated packing by unfavorable regio-configuration. The distinct assembly behaviors of these three regioisomers reflect the delicate influence of a minute structural difference on precision macromolecular assembly.

Keywords: POSS; molecular nanoparticles; regioisomers; self-assembly; shape amphiphiles.