title: Hierarchical Self-Assembly of Supramolecular Muscle-Like Fibers.
abstract: An acid-base switchable [c2]daisy chain rotaxane terminated with two 2,6-diacetylamino pyridine units has been self-assembled with a bis(uracil) linker. The complementary hydrogen-bond recognition patterns, together with lateral van der Waals aggregations, result in the hierarchical formation of unidimensional supramolecular polymers associated in bundles of muscle-like fibers. Microscopic and scattering techniques reveal that the mesoscopic structure of these bundles depends on the extended or contracted states that the rotaxanes show within individual polymer chains. The observed local dynamics span over several length scales because of a combination of supramolecular and mechanical bonds. This work illustrates the possibility to modify the hierarchical mesoscopic structuring of large polymeric systems by the integrated actuation of individual molecular machines.
authors.affiliation: SAMS research group, Institut Charles Sadron, CNRS, University of Strasbourg, 23 rue du Loess, BP 84047, 67034 Strasbourg Cedex 2 (France).
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goujon
authors.affiliation: SAMS research group, Institut Charles Sadron, CNRS, University of Strasbourg, 23 rue du Loess, BP 84047, 67034 Strasbourg Cedex 2 (France).|Current address: Southwest Petroleum University, No.8 Xindu Avenue, Xindu District, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province 610500 (P.R. China).
authors.forename: Guangyan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: SAMS research group, Institut Charles Sadron, CNRS, University of Strasbourg, 23 rue du Loess, BP 84047, 67034 Strasbourg Cedex 2 (France).
authors.forename: Emilie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Moulin
authors.affiliation: SAMS research group, Institut Charles Sadron, CNRS, University of Strasbourg, 23 rue du Loess, BP 84047, 67034 Strasbourg Cedex 2 (France).
authors.forename: Gad
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fuks
authors.affiliation: SAMS research group, Institut Charles Sadron, CNRS, University of Strasbourg, 23 rue du Loess, BP 84047, 67034 Strasbourg Cedex 2 (France).
authors.forename: Mounir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maaloum
authors.affiliation: Matière et Systèmes Complexes (MSC) Laboratory, University of Paris Diderot-Paris VII, UMR 7057, Bâtiment Condorcet, 75205 Paris Cedex 13 (France).
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Buhler
authors.affiliation: SAMS research group, Institut Charles Sadron, CNRS, University of Strasbourg, 23 rue du Loess, BP 84047, 67034 Strasbourg Cedex 2 (France). giuseppone@unistra.fr.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Giuseppone
mesh_terms: D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D066244:Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers
keywords: molecular machines; nanotechnology; rotaxanes; soft matter; supramolecular polymers