Reactions Coupled Self- and Co-Assembly: A Highly Dynamic Process and the Resultant Spatially Inhomogeneous Structure

Abstract

Reactions coupled self-assembly represents a step forward towards biomimetic behavior in the field of supramolecular research. Here, two pH-dependent reactions of thiol-disulfide exchange and ligand exchange were used to couple with the self-assembly of an Au^I -thiolate coordination polymer consisting of two ligands. Thanks to the comparable rates between the reactions and self-assembly, the compositions of the assemblies change continuously with time, resulting in a highly dynamic assembly process and spatially inhomogeneous structure that are very common in life systems but cannot be easily obtained with one-pot artificial methods.

Keywords: co-assembly; dynamic process; ligand exchange; reaction coupled assembly; thiol-disulfide exchange.