Comprehensive Chemical Experiment of Dynamic Reconfiguration of Supramolecular Assemblies

Abstract

To improve the undergraduate understanding of supramolecular chemistry and dissipative structures and train their ability to conduct comprehensive chemical experiments, this paper proposes an experiment of dynamic reconfiguration of supramolecular assemblies that is based on guanosine 5'-monophosphate disodium salt and the urea-urease clock reaction. This experiment covers the construction approach and structural characterization of the nonequilibrium supramolecular assembly system based on the clock reaction, as well as the exploration of the mechanism of the dynamic reconfiguration of the assemblies. Integrating science and education can prompt students' interest in scientific investigation, cultivate their scientific thinking, and improve their comprehensive skills.

Transient regulation of gel properties by chemical reaction networks

“…26 The realization of most functions relies on the supply of chemical fuels to drive the formation of a transient out-of-equilibrium state at either macroscopic or microscopic levels. 28,36,37 A pathway towards creating transiently regulatable gels is to embed CRNs in responsive systems, as CRNs can provide autonomous trajectories in chemical potentials, such as transient or oscillating states with programmable temporal signatures. 11,[38][39][40] The above approach is particularly effective as the CRNs can be pre-programmed to activate the gels, later returning to the original deactivated state under the same reaction conditions.…”