Organic Switches for Surfaces and Devices

Abstract

The pursuit to achieve miniaturization has tantalized researchers across the fields of chemistry, physics, biology, materials science and engineering for over half a century because of its many alluring potential applications. As alternatives to traditional "top-down" manufacturing, "bottom-up" approaches, originating from the (supra)molecular level, have enabled researchers to develop switches which can be manipulated on surfaces at nanoscale dimensions with deft precision using simple external triggers. Once on surfaces, these organic switches have been shown to modulate both the physical and chemical surface properties. In this Progress Report, we shed light on recent advances made in our laboratories towards integrated systems using all-organic switches on a variety of substrates. Design concepts are revealed, as well as the overall impact of all-organic switches on the properties of their substrates, while emphasizing the considerable promise and formidable challenges these advanced composite materials pose when it comes to conferring function on them.

Construction of a hetero pseudo[2]rota[2]catenane

“…In our 37 previous works, we have confirmed that no dethreading process 38 took place in formation of cucurbituril-based pseudorotaxanes due 39 to the strong binding affinity [38,39]. Moreover, an efficient 40 synthetic method for the synthesis of hetero [4]rotaxane was 41 reported by Wu using a new ''threading-stoppering-followed by-42 clipping'' approach [40]. Based on the above consideration, herein, 43 we designed and synthesized a novel ammonium backbone, which 44 contained three ammonium units.…”

“…As a type of classic topological structure, the 12 mechanically interlocked molecules such as rotaxanes and 13 catenanes have unique structural features and can be applied in 14 various fields, including molecular devices, molecular switches 15 and machines, nanotechnology, biological technology, drug deliv- 16 ery and polymer materials [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. 17 Accordingly, the design and construction of mechanically 18 interlocked molecules with multiple topology units has become 19 one of the most important projects.…”

Template-directed nonenzymatic oligonucleotide synthesis: lessons from synthetic chemistry

“…The entire fields of supramolecular and mechanically interlocked molecular switches [26,69,70] are a testament to the fact that there are numerous examples of how to reversibly dissociate templates from their reacted substrates. In the context of the mechanical bond, however, this reversible dissociation becomes relative intramolecular motion, and has often been exploited to harness the energy from these well-defined nanoscale movements, leading to applications such as molecular muscles [71], actuators [71], memory [72], unidirectional motion [73][74][75] and sequence-specific peptide synthesis [76].…”

Synthesis and characterization of dissymmetric molecular rotors based on 1,4-diethynylphenylene rotators and steroidal/trityl type stators

“…The possibility to develop artificial molecular machines as a new sort of complex materials with multiple components hierarchically assembled to perform programmed functions has become an area of great interest [1][2][3][4]. In this field, amphidynamic crystals based on molecular rotors are capable of emulating the structure and function of macroscopic devices [5][6][7][8][9] such as gyroscopes and compasses.…”