Hierarchically Compartmentalized Supramolecular Gels through Multilevel Self-Sorting

J Am Chem Soc. 2019 Feb 20;141(7):2847-2851. doi: 10.1021/jacs.8b09596. Epub 2018 Dec 20.

Abstract

Hierarchical compartmentalization through the bottom-up approach is ubiquitous in living cells but remains a formidable task in synthetic systems. Here we report on hierarchically compartmentalized supramolecular gels that are spontaneously formed by multilevel self-sorting. Two types of molecular gelators are formed in situ from nonassembling building blocks and self-assemble into distinct gel fibers through a kinetic self-sorting process; interestingly, these distinct fibers further self-sort into separated microdomains, leading to microscale compartmentalized gel networks. Such spontaneously multilevel self-sorting systems provide a "bottom-up" approach toward hierarchically structured functional materials and may play a role in intracellular organization.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't