title: Inversion of the Supramolecular Chirality of Nanofibrous Structures through Co-Assembly with Achiral Molecules.
abstract: To understand the behavior of chiral nanostructures, it is of critical importance to study how achiral molecules regulate the chirality of such nanostructures and what the main driving forces for the regulation processes are. In this work, the supramolecular chirality of helical nanofibers consisting of phenylalanine-based enantiomers is inverted by achiral bis(pyridinyl) derivatives through co-assembly. This inversion is mainly mediated by intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions between the achiral additives and the chiral molecules, which may induce stereoselective interactions and different reorientations for the assembled molecules, as confirmed by calculations. This work not only exemplifies a feasible method to invert the helicity of chiral nanostructures by the addition of achiral molecules, but also provides a method to explore their functions in environments where chiral and achiral molecules are in close proximity.
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China.
authors.forename: Guo-Feng
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China.
authors.forename: Ling-Yun
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China. clfeng@sjtu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chuan-Liang
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Xiang
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Wei
keywords: chirality; co-assembly; helical structures; hydrogels; supramolecular chemistry