Oligoprolines guide the self-assembly of quaterthiophenes

  • Chem Sci. 2019 May 2;10(20):5391-5396. doi: 10.1039/c8sc05742g.
Nellie A K Ochs  1 ,  Urszula Lewandowska  1 ,  Wojciech Zajaczkowski  2 ,  Stefano Corra  1 ,  Stephan Reger  3 ,  Andreas Herdlitschka  1 ,  Sylvia Schmid  3 ,  Wojciech Pisula  2  4 ,  Klaus Müllen  2 ,  Peter Bäuerle  3 ,  Helma Wennemers  1
Affiliations
  • 1. Laboratory of Organic Chemistry , ETH Zürich , Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 3 , 8093 Zürich , Switzerland . Email: [email protected].
  • 2. Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research , Ackermannweg 10 , 55128 Mainz , Germany . Email: [email protected].
  • 3. Institute of Organic Chemistry II and Advanced Materials , University of Ulm , Germany . Email: [email protected].
  • 4. Department of Molecular Physics , Faculty of Chemistry , Lodz University of Technology , Zeromskiego 116 , 90-924 Lodz , Poland.
PMID: 31191896 DOI: 10.1039/c8sc05742g
Abstract

Control over the molecular organization of π-conjugated oligothiophenes into different types of supramolecular assemblies is key to their use in organic electronics but difficult to achieve as these chromophores have a pronounced tendency to aggregate. Herein we show that oligoprolines, which do not self-assemble on their own, control the self-assembly of quaterthiophenes. Spectroscopic, microscopic, and diffraction studies with quaterthiophene-oligoproline conjugates revealed the formation of mono- or double-layered sheets or, alternatively, helically twisted ribbons - depending on the length of the oligoproline. The dimensions of the nanoscopic objects, which extend into the micrometer regime, correlate with the molecular dimensions of the quaterthiophene-oligoproline building blocks.

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