title: Self-assembly of alkynylplatinum(II) terpyridine amphiphiles into nanostructures via steric control and metal-metal interactions.
abstract: A series of mono- and dinuclear alkynylplatinum(II) terpyridine complexes containing the hydrophilic oligo(para-phenylene ethynylene) with two 3,6,9-trioxadec-1-yloxy chains was designed and synthesized. The mononuclear alkynylplatinum(II) terpyridine complex was found to display a very strong tendency toward the formation of supramolecular structures. Interestingly, additional end-capping with another platinum(II) terpyridine moiety of various steric bulk at the terminal alkyne would lead to the formation of nanotubes or helical ribbons. These desirable nanostructures were found to be governed by the steric bulk on the platinum(II) terpyridine moieties, which modulates the directional metal-metal interactions and controls the formation of nanotubes or helical ribbons. Detailed analysis of temperature-dependent UV-visible absorption spectra of the nanostructured tubular aggregates also provided insights into the assembly mechanism and showed the role of metal-metal interactions in the cooperative supramolecular polymerization of the amphiphilic platinum(II) complexes.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Functional Materials (Areas of Excellence Scheme, University Grants Committee, Hong Kong) and Department of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Sammual Yu-Lut
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Functional Materials (Areas of Excellence Scheme, University Grants Committee, Hong Kong) and Department of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Keith Man-Chung
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Functional Materials (Areas of Excellence Scheme, University Grants Committee, Hong Kong) and Department of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China wwyam@hku.hk.
authors.forename: Vivian Wing-Wah
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Yam
keywords: nanoaggregates; noncovalent interactions; platinum complex