title: Spatiotemporal control and superselectivity in supramolecular polymers using multivalency.
abstract: Multivalency has an important but poorly understood role in molecular self-organization. We present the noncovalent synthesis of a multicomponent supramolecular polymer in which chemically distinct monomers spontaneously coassemble into a dynamic, functional structure. We show that a multivalent recruiter is able to bind selectively to one subset of monomers (receptors) and trigger their clustering along the self-assembled polymer, behavior that mimics raft formation in cell membranes. This phenomenon is reversible and affords spatiotemporal control over the monomer distribution inside the supramolecular polymer by superselective binding of single-strand DNA to positively charged receptors. Our findings reveal the pivotal role of multivalency in enabling structural order and nonlinear recognition in water-soluble supramolecular polymers, and it offers a design principle for functional, structurally defined supramolecular architectures.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Complex Molecular Systems and Laboratory of Macromolecular and Organic Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Albertazzi
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Martinez-Veracoechea
authors.forename: Christianus M A
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Leenders
authors.forename: Ilja K
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Voets
authors.forename: Daan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Frenkel
authors.forename: E W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Meijer
mesh_terms: D001704:Biopolymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D001704:Biopolymers; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded
keywords: energy transfer; self-assembly; simulations