title: A novel nanostructured supramolecular hydrogel self-assembled from tetraphenylethylene-capped dipeptides.
abstract: Herein, we report a tetraphenylethylene-diglycine (TPE-GG) hydrogelator from a systematic study of TPE-capped dipeptides with various amphiphilic properties. From a chemical design, we found that the hydrogelation of TPE-GG molecules can be utilized to generate supramolecular nanostructures with a large TPE-based nanobelt width (∼300 nm) and lateral dimension ratio (>30 fold). In addition, TPE-GG has the lowest molecular weight and minimum number of atoms compared to any TPE-capped peptide hydrogelator reported to date. This minimal self-assembled hydrogelator can fundamentally achieve the gel features compared with other TPE-capped peptides. A combined experimental and computational study indicates the π-π interactions, electrostatic interactions and hydrogen-bonding interactions are the major driving forces behind the formation of self-assembled nanobelts. This study demonstrates the importance of structure-property relationships and provides new insights into the design of supramolecular nanomaterials.
authors.affiliation: Integrative Stem Cell Center, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 40447, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Mei-Yu
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.forename: Chen-Wei
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jui-Wen
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Yu-Tang
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jhong-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Shu-Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Shih-Chieh
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: Hsin-Chieh
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D004151:Dipeptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D049329:Nanostructures; D013267:Stilbenes / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004151:Dipeptides; D020100:Hydrogels; D013267:Stilbenes; C000617116:tetraphenylethylene