A nanoscopic supramolecular aggregate is constructed from perylene bisimide‐bridged bis‐(permethyl‐β‐cyclodextrins) 1 via π–π stacking interactions. Its self‐assembly behavior in organic and aqueous solutions is investigated by UV–Vis, fluorescence, and 1H NMR spectroscopy. Transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy images show the 1D nanorod aggregation of 1, which is birefringent under crossed polarizer conditions and strongly fluorescent as depicted in the fluorescence microscopy image. X‐ray powder diffraction measurements indicate that 1 forms a well‐ordered crystalline arrangement with a π–π stacking distance of 4.02 Å. Furthermore, the solid‐state fluorescence sensing is explored by utilizing the poly(vinylidene fluoride) membrane‐embedded 1, giving that 1, as a novel vapor detecting material, can probe several kinds of volatile organic compounds and, especially, exhibits high sensitivity to organic amines.

Diabetic wound is one of the most intractable chronic wounds that is prone to bacterial infection. Hypoxia is an important feature in its microenvironment. However, it is challenging for antimicrobial therapy to directly apply the existing hypoxia-responsive drug delivery systems due to the active targeting deficiency and the biofilm obstacle. Herein, we customizes a hypoxia-responsive carrier, lactose-modified azocalix[4]arene (LacAC4A) with the ability to actively target and inhibit biofilm. By loading ciprofloxacin (Cip), the resultant supramolecular nanoformulation Cip@LacAC4A demonstrates enhanced antibacterial efficacy resulting from both the increased drug accumulation and the controlled release at the site of infection. When applied on diabetic wounds together with multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in vivo, Cip@LacAC4A induces definitely less inflammatory infiltration than free Cip, which translates into high wound healing performance. Importantly, such design principle provides a direction for developing antimicrobial drug delivery systems.

A novel water-soluble perylene bisimide derivative 1 was synthesized with two permethyl-beta-cyclodextrin grafts at the imide nitrogens, and its structure was identified by NMR, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS), and elemental analysis. Its aggregation behavior in water and organic solutions was further investigated by UV-vis, fluorescence, and (1)H NMR spectra, showing that 1 exhibits strong pi...pi aggregation in water. Especially, the aggregation and optical properties were comprehensively compared between the neutral form 1 and protonated form 1H(2) through concentration- and temperature-dependent UV-vis experiments. The aggregation constant of 1H(2) is almost 1 order of magnitude lower than that of 1 owing to electrostatic repulsion. On the other hand, 1H(2) exhibits better fluorescence than 1 by overcoming the photoinduced electron transfer process from imino groups to perylene backbone. Furthermore, by employing the binding sites of grafted cyclodextrins to aromatic guests, pronounced electronic interactions between perylene and anthracene/pyrene guests were observed.

A chiral self-assembly has been constructed from a d-lactose functionalized perylene bisimide derivative, showing right-handed supramolecular stacking induced by the chiral d-lactose moieties. Benefiting from the grafting of D-lactose, the self-assembled multivalent glycoclusters exhibited specific binding with PNA lectin.

High excimer-state emission in the H-type aggregate of a novel asymmetric perylene bisimide derivative, 6, with triethyleneglycol chains and lactose functionalization was achieved in water. Furthermore, its application for enhancing the visualization of transfer latent fingerprints from glass slides to the poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane was explored, which showed clear images of the latent fingerprint in daylight and under 365 nm ultraviolet illumination.

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Water-soluble perylene bisimide derivative 7 modified with six mannoses was synthesized and its self-assembled properties were studied by UV-Vis and CD spectroscopy, which revealed an interesting self-assembly with a solvent-tuning chiral conformation in H(2)O-DMSO solution. As H(2)O was added to the DMSO solution until a 60% (or 70%) v/v proportion was achieved, the self-assembly of the mannose functionalized compound 7 exhibited a left-handed helical conformation. More interestingly, when the volume of H(2)O constituted beyond 85% of the solution, the conformation of the self-assembly turned out to be a right-handed helical conformation. Furthermore, the binding interactions between the self-assembly of compound 7 and Con A were investigated by turbidity assay, CD spectra, TEM and SEM images, and ELLA experiment, which indicated that the self-assembly of compound 7 as multivalent glycoclusters exhibited specific binding to Con A with an IC(50) value of 24 μM (144 μM, valency corrected), 10 times stronger than the reference compound (α-MMP).

Eight carbohydrate-modified perylene bisimides (PBI-4 lac-2 lac, PBI-4 lac-2 Man, PBI-4 lac-2 Gal, PBI-4 lac-2 Mal, PBI-4 Man-2 Man, PBI-4 Man-2 lac, PBI-4 Man-2 Gal and PBI-4 Man-2 Mal) were synthesized, and the following predetermined supramolecular chirality rule was found: perylene bisimides modified with disaccharides (D-lactose and D-maltose) at the imide position generated right-handed chirality, and those modified with monosaccharides (D-mannose and D-galactose) generated left-handed chirality, when D-lactose or D-mannose was substituted in the bay positions of perylene bisimides with amide bonds as the linking spacers. These results may be because of the difference in the stacking angle of the perylene bisimide backbones induced by the steric effect and the additional hydrogen bonds between the disaccharide residues. This study provides an important design rule for predetermined chiral self-assembly of perylene bisimides.