No abstract

Modification of naphthalene diimide (NDI) resulted in a photochemically stable, fluorescent 3,4,5-tris(dodecyloxy)benzamide derivative of NDI (TDBNDI), and introduction of the long alkyl chains endowed the compound with good compatibility with commonly found organic solvents and in particular superior self-assembly in the solution state. Further studies revealed that TDBNDI forms gels with nine of the 18 solvents tested at a concentration of 2.0% (w/v), and the critical gelation concentrations of five of the eight gels are lower than 1.0% (w/v), indicating the high efficiency of the compound as a low-molecular mass gelator (LMMG). Transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and confocal laser scanning microscopy studies revealed the networked fibrillar structure of the TDBNDI/methylcyclohexane (MCH) gel. On the basis of these findings, a fluorescent film was developed via simple spin-coating of the TDBNDI/MCH gel on a glass substrate surface. Fluorescence behavior and sensing performance studies demonstrated that this film is photochemically stable, and sensitive and selective to the presence of aniline vapor. Notably, the response is instantaneous, and the sensing process is fully and quickly reversible. This case study demonstrates that derivatization of photochemically stable fluorophores into LMMGs is a good strategy for developing high-performance fluorescent sensing films.

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The distribution of the constituents of a constitutional dynamic library (CDL) may undergo time-dependent changes as a function of the kinetics of the processes generating the CDL from its components. Thus, the constitutional dynamic network (CDN) representing the connections between the constituents changes from a kinetic distribution to the thermodynamic one as a function of time. We investigated the behavior of dynamic covalent libraries (DCLs) of four constituents generated by reversible formation of CN bonds between four components, 2 aldehydes and 2 amino compounds, both in absence and in the presence of metal cations. The associated [2 × 2] networks underwent time-dependent changes from the initial kinetic distribution to the final thermodynamic one, involving an orthogonal switch from one diagonal to the other diagonal of the square [2 × 2] network leading to a very large change in distribution. The DCL constituents could be switched from kinetic products (imines) to thermodynamic products (oximes or acylhydrazones) based on the reactivities of the components and the thermodynamic stabilities of the constituents without addition of any external effector, solely on the basis of the intrinsic properties of the self-contained system. Such processes were achieved for purely organic DCLs/CDNs as well as for inorganic ones containing two metal cations, the latter changing from the silver­(I) complex of an imine (kinetic product) to the zinc­(II) complex of a hydrazone (thermodynamic product). The results bear relationship to out-of-equilibrium systems concerning kinetic behavior in adaptive chemistry.