title: Controlling and imaging biomimetic self-assembly.
abstract: The self-assembly of chemical entities represents a very attractive way to create a large variety of ordered functional structures and complex matter. Although much effort has been devoted to the preparation of supramolecular nanostructures based on different chemical building blocks, an understanding of the mechanisms at play and the ability to monitor assembly processes and, in turn, control them are often elusive, which precludes a deep and comprehensive control of the final structures. Here the complex supramolecular landscape of a platinum(II) compound is characterized fully and controlled successfully through a combination of supramolecular and photochemical approaches. The supramolecular assemblies comprise two kinetic assemblies and their thermodynamic counterpart. The monitoring of the different emission properties of the aggregates, used as a fingerprint for each species, allows the real-time visualization of the evolving self-assemblies. The control of multiple supramolecular pathways will help the design of complex systems in and out of their thermodynamic equilibrium.
authors.affiliation: ISIS and icFRC, Université de Strasbourg and CNRS, 8 rue Gaspard Monge, Strasbourg 67000, France.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aliprandi
authors.affiliation: ISIS and icFRC, Université de Strasbourg and CNRS, 8 rue Gaspard Monge, Strasbourg 67000, France.|University of Strasbourg Institute for Advanced Study (USIAS), 5 allée du Général Rouvillois, Strasbourg 67083, France.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mauro
authors.affiliation: ISIS and icFRC, Université de Strasbourg and CNRS, 8 rue Gaspard Monge, Strasbourg 67000, France.|Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Institut für Nanotechnologie, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen D-76344, Germany.
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Cola
mesh_terms: D032701:Biomimetics / Q000379:methods*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D015394:Molecular Structure; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009944:Organoplatinum Compounds / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D010777:Photochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D009944:Organoplatinum Compounds; D012997:Solvents