Hydrophobicity Control in Adaptive Crystalline Assemblies

Erez Cohen; Yahel Soffer; Haim Weissman; Tatyana Bendikov; Yaelle Schilt; Uri Raviv; Boris Rybtchinski

doi:10.1002/anie.201801912

Hydrophobicity Control in Adaptive Crystalline Assemblies

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2018 Jul 16;57(29):8871-8874. doi: 10.1002/anie.201801912. Epub 2018 Jun 20.

Authors

Erez Cohen¹, Yahel Soffer¹, Haim Weissman¹, Tatyana Bendikov², Yaelle Schilt³, Uri Raviv³, Boris Rybtchinski¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Organic Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, 234 Herzl Street, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel.
² Department of Chemical Research Support, Weizmann Institute of Science, 234 Herzl Street, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel.
³ Institute of Chemistry, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 91904, Israel.

PMID: 29862609
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201801912

Abstract

An amphiphile based on polyethylene glycol (PEG) polymer and two molecular moieties (perylene diimide and C₇ fluoroalkyl, PDI and C₇ F) attached to its termini assembles into crystalline films with long-range order. The films reversibly switch from crystalline to amorphous above the PEG melting temperature. The adaptive behavior stems from the responsiveness of the PEG domain and the robustness of the PDI and C₇ F assemblies. The hydrophobicity of the film can be controlled by heating, resulting in switching from highly hydrophobic to superhydrophilic. The long-range order, reversible crystallinity switching, and the temperature-controlled wettability demonstrate the potential of block copolymer analogues based on simple polymeric/molecular hybrids.

Keywords: crystalline assemblies; hydrophobic effect; perylene diimides; self-assembly; supramolecular materials.