Applications of microscopy and small angle scattering techniques for the characterisation of supramolecular gels

• Connor R. M. MacDonald and
• Emily R. Draper

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2608–2634, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.220

Supramolecular assemblies of amphiphilic donor–acceptor Stenhouse adducts as macroscopic soft scaffolds

• Ka-Lung Hung,
• Leong-Hung Cheung,
• Yikun Ren,
• Ming-Hin Chau,
• Yan-Yi Lam,
• Takashi Kajitani and
• Franco King-Chi Leung

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1590–1603, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.142

• ≈100 nm in width and hundreds of nm in length (Figure 3a and Figure S8a, Supporting Information File 1). Upon white-light irradiation for 60 min at 20 °C, the photoisomerization of DA11 at 4.1 mM transformed the supramolecular assembly from bundled nanofibers into a mixture of worm-like micelles and

• applying the shear-flow method, negatively charged nanofibers of DA11 were assembled into a macroscopic soft scaffold when the solution was ejected into a shallow pool of calcium chloride solution (150 mM, Figure 4a). The high binding affinity between calcium ions and carboxylate groups enabled charge

• soft scaffold of DA11 was imaged by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to reveal bundled nanofibers partially aligned with the long axis of the macroscopic soft scaffold (Figure 4b). The degree of alignment (structural parameters and orientational order) of macroscopic soft scaffolds of DA11 were

Perspectives on push–pull chromophores derived from click-type [2 + 2] cycloaddition–retroelectrocyclization reactions of electron-rich alkynes and electron-deficient alkenes

• Michio Yamada

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 125–154, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.13

• chain in dimethyl sulfoxide. Furthermore, the solvent-driven shuttling motion of the macrocycle was observed to exert a discernible effect on the aggregation of the amphiphilic molecular system. In particular, changing the solvent led to the generation of interlaced nanofibers, perforated capsules, and

Aromatic systems with two and three pyridine-2,6-dicarbazolyl-3,5-dicarbonitrile fragments as electron-transporting organic semiconductors exhibiting long-lived emissions

• Karolis Leitonas,
• Brigita Vigante,
• Dmytro Volyniuk,
• Audrius Bucinskas,
• Pavels Dimitrijevs,
• Sindija Lapcinska,
• Pavel Arsenyan and
• Juozas Vidas Grazulevicius

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1867–1880, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.139

• their application in photocatalysis has been recently published [9]. 2,6-Bis(4-cyanophenyl)-4-(9-phenyl-9H-carbazol-3-yl)pyridine-3,5-dicarbonitrile) exhibits two aggregate states in aqueous dispersions: amorphous nanospheres and ordered nanofibers with π–π molecular stacking. The nanofibers promoted

Synthesis and bioactivity of pyrrole-conjugated phosphopeptides

• Qiuxin Zhang,
• Weiyi Tan and
• Bing Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 159–166, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.17

• of 1. These results suggest that a heteroaromatic motif at the N-terminal of peptides likely disfavors the formation of extensive nanofibers or morphological changes during enzymatic self-assembly, thus provide useful insights for the development of phosphopeptides as substrates of phosphatases for

• phosphatase (ALP) to convert the micelles made of phosphopeptides to the nanofibers of peptides via enzymatic dephosphorylation [20][60]. While ALP-catalyzed EISA has received considerable exploration, the structures of the peptide substrates mainly have centered on naphthylacetyl-capped phosphopeptides (e.g

• transition of nanoparticles to nanofibers, which is a transition observed in the case of 1 [43]. Incubating 2–10 with HeLa cells reveals that these phosphopeptides exhibit comparable inhibitory activity as that of 1 against the proliferation of HeLa cells at 200 μM. But 2–10 at 400 μM, differing drastically

Adjusting the length of supramolecular polymer bottlebrushes by top-down approaches

• Tobias Klein,
• Franka V. Gruschwitz,
• Maren T. Kuchenbrod,
• Ivo Nischang,
• Stephanie Hoeppener and
• Johannes C. Brendel

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2621–2628, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.175

• ][27][28]. Both methods are applied for fragmentation of initially µm-long SPBs based on BTU–PEO and BTP–PEO conjugates. The resulting nanofibers were characterized in detail by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryoTEM), as well as by asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation measurements

Circularly polarized luminescent systems fabricated by Tröger's base derivatives through two different strategies

• Cheng Qian,
• Yuan Chen,
• Qian Zhao,
• Ming Cheng,
• Chen Lin,
• Juli Jiang and
• Leyong Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 52–57, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.6

• scanning electron microscope (SEM). At the molar ratio of rac-TBPP/DGG = 1:80, the co-gel shows belt-like nanofibers (Figure 3c), while the fibrous morphology could not be observed at the molar ratio of 1:16 (Figure 3d). It indicates that two different kinds of supramolecular assemblies were formed at the

Enzyme-instructed morphological transition of the supramolecular assemblies of branched peptides

• Dongsik Yang,
• Hongjian He and
• Bing Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2709–2718, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.221

• assemblies of the peptides. The attachment of DEDDDLLI sequences to the ε-amine of the lysine residue of a tetrapeptide produces branched peptides that form micelles. Upon the proteolytic cleavage of the branch, catalyzed by proteinase K, the micelles turn into nanofibers. We also found that the acetylation

• the branch of the peptide, and such enzymatic proteolysis turns the micelles into nanofibers. This morphological transition (i.e., micelle to nanofiber) releases the cargos into the mitochondria of the cells [33]. These results imply that enzyme-responsive branched peptides can act as responsive

• proteolysis to cleave the branch off 1, the micelles turn into nanofibers. Acetylation of the N-terminal of the branch forms 2, which exhibits an enhanced stability towards the proteolysis. In addition, the cleavage also occurs at other sites in the branch of 2, albeit less frequently, due to the acetylation

pH- and concentration-dependent supramolecular self-assembly of a naturally occurring octapeptide

• Goutam Ghosh and
• Gustavo Fernández

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2017–2025, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.168

• still have an effect on the secondary structure and the resulting nanoscale morphology, leading to twisted β-sheet structures and short nanofibers. Apart from the pH sensitivity, PEP-1 also showed a concentration dependency of the secondary structure. At high concentration, it formed β-sheet-rich

Automated high-content imaging for cellular uptake, from the Schmuck cation to the latest cyclic oligochalcogenides

• Rémi Martinent,
• Javier López-Andarias,
• Dimitri Moreau,
• Yangyang Cheng,
• Naomi Sakai and
• Stefan Matile

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2007–2016, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.167

• peptides that can be used as gene transfection vectors [36]. Unlike linear Schmuck peptides, the cyclic peptide 16 can self-assemble into nanofibers due to the binding between the GCP moiety and the backbone of an adjacent peptide. This binding interaction could stabilize the stacking of peptides by

• offsetting a charge repulsion of the extra lysine residues, and thus allowing the formation of stable cationic nanofibers. These nanoaggregates, assembled from the monomer 16, are efficient gene transfection vectors. However, the control peptide 17, which cannot self-assemble into nanotubes, shows negative

Heterogeneous photocatalysis in flow chemical reactors

• Christopher G. Thomson,
• Ai-Lan Lee and
• Filipe Vilela

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1495–1549, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.125

• calcinated at 400–500 °C to remove the organic material and form pure TiO2 nanofibers, which were applied for the photocatalytic degradation of phenol [153]. Photodeposition is commonly used to deposit metal atoms or nanoparticles on semiconductor surfaces, which can greatly influence the photophysical

Fabrication, characterization and adsorption properties of cucurbit[7]uril-functionalized polycaprolactone electrospun nanofibrous membranes

• Changzhong Chen,
• Fengbo Liu,
• Xiongzhi Zhang,
• Zhiyong Zhao and
• Simin Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 992–999, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.97

• , Xiangnan University, Chenzhou 423000, China 10.3762/bjoc.15.97 Abstract The fabrication of electrospun nanofibers comprising cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) is reported. Various techniques such as SEM, FTIR, XRD, DSC and TG were utilized to characterize the morphology, composition

• and properties of the nanofibers. Uniform bead-free electrospun nanofibers were obtained from PCL/CB[7] mixed solutions and the average fiber diameter of the nanofibers increases with the increase of CB[7] content. The nanofibers are composed of a physical mixture of PCL and CB[7], and CB[7] itself is

• present in the PCL fiber matrix in an uncomplexed state. The static adsorption behavior of the PCL/CB[7] nanofibers towards methylene blue (MB) was also preliminary investigated. The results indicate that the adsorption of MB onto the nanofibrous membranes fits the second-order kinetic model and Langmuir

Fabrication of supramolecular cyclodextrin–fullerene nonwovens by electrospinning

• Hiroaki Yoshida,
• Ken Kikuta and
• Toshiyuki Kida

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 89–95, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.10

• structurally amorphous fiber materials consistently [9][11]. In this work, we expected that the incorporation of C60 into γ-CD nanofibers helps with the regular arrangement of γ-CD molecules, but γ-CD–C60 microfiber materials do not also show a specific XRD pattern (Figure S8 in Supporting Information File 1

• maintains the same UV–vis absorption (259 and 332 nm). Electrospinning in the same manner produces a slightly purple nonwoven composed of homogeneous nanofibers with a diameter of 0.34 ± 0.18 μm and with a reasonable UV–vis diffuse reflectance (around 265 and 335 nm). These results suggest that the mixing

Synthesis and supramolecular self-assembly of glutamic acid-based squaramides

• Juan V. Alegre-Requena,
• Marleen Häring,
• Isaac G. Sonsona,
• Alex Abramov,
• Eugenia Marqués-López,
• Raquel P. Herrera and
• David Díaz Díaz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 2065–2073, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.180

• gels are typically made of low-molecular-weight (LMW) compounds self-assembled in different solvents via non-covalent interactions. In most cases, this feature enables reversible stimuli-responsive gel-to-sol transitions [31]. Usually, the entanglement of 1D nanofibers of gelator molecules generates a

A self-assembled photoresponsive gel consisting of chiral nanofibers

• Lei Zou,
• Dan Han,
• Zhiyi Yuan,
• Dongdong Chang and
• Xiang Ma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 1994–2001, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.174

• and co-workers [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] have built a multifunctional controllable gel system, which utilized L-glutamic lipid to construct nanofibers, nanotwists, and nanotubes with the property of chirality. Azobenzene, which is structurally photosensitive, is widely chosen to

• beginning, which can be detected by high-resolution mass spectrometry (Figure S7, Supporting Information File 1). Then, the dimers and single molecules 3 were able to assemble together through π–π stacking and hydrogen bonding to fabricate the nanofibers. Finally, those fibers twisted with each other to

Spectroelectrochemical studies on the effect of cations in the alkaline glycerol oxidation reaction over carbon nanotube-supported Pd nanoparticles

• Dennis Hiltrop,
• Steffen Cychy,
• Karina Elumeeva,
• Wolfgang Schuhmann and
• Martin Muhler

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 1428–1435, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.120

• ] reported on the beneficial role of increased surface polarity of carbon nanofibers introduced by oxygen groups in the deoxygenation of stearic acid over Pd NPs deposited in addition on this support. They identified a favorable mode of adsorption of the stearic acid via the carboxylic group for high support

Glycoscience@Synchrotron: Synchrotron radiation applied to structural glycoscience

• Serge Pérez and
• Daniele de Sanctis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1145–1167, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.114

• ., wood, cotton, jute, bamboo, etc.). For dispersions in aqueous suspension, the structure of cellulose nanofibers (and their aggregates) can be characterized by SAXS. This technique has permitted quite significant insight to be gained about the structure of cellulose from a variety of botanical origins

• . In the case of wood pulp, cellulose nanofibers displayed a ribbon shape of about one micrometer in length. The cross-sections sizes were found to cluster in two groups with dimensions of 3 nm × 8 nm and 9 nm × 20 nm, respectively. Quite different results were obtained for the structure of microfibril

Continuous-flow processes for the catalytic partial hydrogenation reaction of alkynes

• Carmen Moreno-Marrodan,
• Francesca Liguori and
• Pierluigi Barbaro

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 734–754, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.73

• with >91% ene selectivity, and cis selectivity of 96% and 50%, respectively, at conversions higher than 90% (Table 2, entries 24, 25) [136]. Comparable selectivity results were obtained in batch using the Lindlar catalysts [174][175], Pd onto pumice [176] or onto nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers [177

Transition-metal-catalyzed synthesis of phenols and aryl thiols

• Yajun Liu,
• Shasha Liu and
• Yan Xiao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 589–611, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.58

• reaction to proceed smoothly in THF at room temperature (Scheme 4) [24]. The reaction system used CsOH as base, providing phenols in moderate to excellent yields. In 2007, the Diaconescu group described Pd/PANI, which was prepared by supporting palladium nanoparticles with polyaniline (PANI) nanofibers. Pd

Star-shaped tetrathiafulvalene oligomers towards the construction of conducting supramolecular assembly

• Masahiko Iyoda and
• Masashi Hasegawa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 1596–1613, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.175

• exhibited unique X-ray structures and multi-redox behavior [45][46][47]. Conducting supramolecular assembly of oligo-TTFs The electric conductivities of doped nanofibers and nanorods derived from TTF and its derivatives are measured by mounting them on Au electrodes with a μm-sized spacing. On the other

• -workers (Figure 5) [52]. Although 11 showed no conductivity, Bryce and co-workers synthesized arborol-functionalized TTF derivative 12 in 2003, whose doped film exhibited a moderate level of conductivity (σrt ≈ 10−4 S cm−1) [53]. In 2005, several groups reported the formation of nanofibers using

• solution are also available for preparing conducting nanofibers. The fastener effect [57], which enhances the face-to-face interaction between the two TTFs, can be used to construct conducting nanostructured fibers in the neutral state, and doping of the fibers with iodine affords black conducting fibers

Synthesis and evaluation of the biostability and cell compatibility of novel conjugates of nucleobase, peptidic epitope, and saccharide

• Dan Yuan,
• Xuewen Du,
• Junfeng Shi,
• Ning Zhou,
• Abdulgader Ahmed Baoum,
• Khalid Omar Al Footy,
• Khadija Omar Badahdah and
• Bing Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 1352–1359, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.145

• nucleopeptides, to connect a saccharide with the nucleopeptides for producing the target conjugates. All the conjugates themselves (1–8) display excellent solubility in water without forming hydrogels. However, a mixture of 5 and 8 self-assembles to form nanofibers and results in a supramolecular hydrogel. The

• conjugates exhibit excellent solubility in water without resulting in hydrogelation or precipitation. We observed that only the mixture of a proper pair of TTPV-containing (e.g., 5) and LGFNI-containing (8) conjugates self-assembles to form nanofibers and results in a supramolecular hydrogel. Moreover, the

• conjugates 1–8, we tested their gelation properties. Conjugates 1–8 show excellent solubility in water. When being mixed in PBS, 5 and 8 ([5] = [8] = 8.3 mM, pH 6.2) self-assemble to form a hydrogel overnight. The hydrogel of 5 + 8 consists of long and flexible nanofibers (with an average width of 9 ± 2 nm

Synthesis of novel conjugates of a saccharide, amino acids, nucleobase and the evaluation of their cell compatibility

• Dan Yuan,
• Xuewen Du,
• Junfeng Shi,
• Ning Zhou,
• Abdulgader Ahmed Baoum and
• Bing Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 2406–2413, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.250

• types of building blocks for generating supramolecular nanofibers in water [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Recently, we have demonstrated that not only the conjugates of nucleobase–amino acids–saccharide (NAS) [16][17][18] but also the conjugates of nucleobase–saccharide–amino acids

Glycosystems in nanotechnology: Gold glyconanoparticles as carrier for anti-HIV prodrugs

• Fabrizio Chiodo,
• Marco Marradi,
• Javier Calvo,
• Eloisa Yuste and
• Soledad Penadés

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 1339–1346, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.136

• . Some of these nanomaterials like polymeric nanoparticles, lipid nanoparticles and nanofibers have shown the ability to improve solubility, stability and permeability of anti-HIV drugs [9][10], but also to reduce the viral load by the activation of latently infected CD4+ T-cells [11]. Gold nanoparticles

Enhancement of efficiency in organic photovoltaic devices containing self-complementary hydrogen-bonding domains

• Rohan J. Kumar,
• Jegadesan Subbiah and
• Andrew B. Holmes

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2013, 9, 1102–1110, doi:10.3762/bjoc.9.122

• gel formation at the highest concentrations, indicating the formation of high-aspect-ratio nanofibers in solution [33]. Films drop cast from 1 mg/mL and 10 mg/mL solutions of 2 in chloroform were investigated by AFM in order to directly observe any nanostructures present. A representative scan at each

The conjugation of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) to small peptides for generating multifunctional supramolecular nanofibers/hydrogels

• Jiayang Li,
• Yi Kuang,
• Junfeng Shi,
• Yuan Gao,
• Jie Zhou and
• Bing Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2013, 9, 908–917, doi:10.3762/bjoc.9.104

• covalent linkage of Phe–Phe and NSAIDs results in conjugates that self-assemble in water to form molecular nanofibers as the matrices of hydrogels. When the NSAID is naproxen (1), the resultant hydrogelator 1a forms a hydrogel at a critical concentration (cgc) of 0.2 wt % at pH 7.0. Hydrogelator 1a, also

• -delivery; hydrogel; multifunctional; nanofibers; NSAID; self-assembly; supramolecular; topical use; Introduction This article reports the design, synthesis, and characterization of hydrogelators made of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) and small peptides for the development of multifunctional

• the polymer backbone remains a nontrivial issue. Despite being constantly improved, these limitations call for the exploration and development of new functional biomaterials and therapeutics. The recent development of supramolecular nanofibers and hydrogels [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20