Aromatic Embrace Motifs for Bulk Supramolecular Polymers

Abstract

Frequently encountered in crystalline materials, aromatic embraces (AEs) are formed when arylated molecules interact through multiple concerted aromatic interactions. AEs are ar obustm otif that is suitable for the preparation of amorphous bulk supramolecular polymers( BSPs).C rystal engineering revealed thatt he polymorphicc ompound (PPh 3 )(Cp)Fe(CO){CO(CH 2 ) 5 CH 3 }( Cp = cyclopentadienyl), known as FpC 6 ,a ssembled into variousc hain structures through severalA Em otifs. Upon melting, FpC 6 always adopted the same AE motif, whiche xtended into the corre-spondinge mbracing "ladder" chains. The resultant BSP displayedt ypical polymer behaviour,i ncluding the presence of ag lass transition and viscoelasticity,w hich allowed the effect of thermalh istory on the polymerisation behaviour to be explored.T he ladderc hains formed by the AE remain assembled at temperatures of up to 130 8Ca nd were able to effectively suppress crystallisation during cooling. The ability of the AE to form chains at high temperatures and suppress crystallisation is an ew opportunity to advance the field of BSPs and supramolecular chemistry.Supporting information and the ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this articlecan be found under: https://doi.