Self-Assembly of Nanocubic Molecular Capsules via Solvent-Guided Formation of Rectangular Blocks. 2018

Takeshi Yamamoto, and Hadi Arefi, and Sudhanshu Shanker, and Hirofumi Sato, and Shuichi Hiraoka
Department of Chemistry , Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University , Kyoto 606-8502 , Japan.

We investigate the mechanism underlying the self-assembly of gear-shaped amphiphilic molecules into a highly ordered nanocubic capsule ("nanocube") in aqueous methanol. Simulation results show that the solvent molecules play a significant role in the assembly process by directing the primitive intermediates to orthogonal/rectangular shapes, thus creating appropriate building blocks for cubic assembly while avoiding off-pathway stacked aggregates. Free-energy analyses reveal that the interplay of the direct intermonomer interaction and the solvent-mediated repulsion between large aromatic cores (via preferential solvation of methanol on hydrophobic surfaces) leads to the strong trend for perpendicular binding of monomers and hence the solvent-guided formation of rectangular blocks. Furthermore, we report the self-assembly simulation of the nanocube using replica exchange with solute tempering and demonstrate that the simulation can predict a highly ordered nanocapsule structure, assembly intermediates, and encapsulated molecules, which helps promote computer-aided design of functional molecular self-assemblies in explicit solvent.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries

Related Publications

Takeshi Yamamoto, and Hadi Arefi, and Sudhanshu Shanker, and Hirofumi Sato, and Shuichi Hiraoka
October 2018, Accounts of chemical research,
Takeshi Yamamoto, and Hadi Arefi, and Sudhanshu Shanker, and Hirofumi Sato, and Shuichi Hiraoka
February 2023, The journal of physical chemistry. B,
Takeshi Yamamoto, and Hadi Arefi, and Sudhanshu Shanker, and Hirofumi Sato, and Shuichi Hiraoka
August 2011, Chemical communications (Cambridge, England),
Takeshi Yamamoto, and Hadi Arefi, and Sudhanshu Shanker, and Hirofumi Sato, and Shuichi Hiraoka
May 2002, Organic letters,
Takeshi Yamamoto, and Hadi Arefi, and Sudhanshu Shanker, and Hirofumi Sato, and Shuichi Hiraoka
August 2003, The Journal of organic chemistry,
Takeshi Yamamoto, and Hadi Arefi, and Sudhanshu Shanker, and Hirofumi Sato, and Shuichi Hiraoka
June 2002, Journal of the American Chemical Society,
Takeshi Yamamoto, and Hadi Arefi, and Sudhanshu Shanker, and Hirofumi Sato, and Shuichi Hiraoka
December 2004, Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany),
Takeshi Yamamoto, and Hadi Arefi, and Sudhanshu Shanker, and Hirofumi Sato, and Shuichi Hiraoka
October 2014, Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany),
Takeshi Yamamoto, and Hadi Arefi, and Sudhanshu Shanker, and Hirofumi Sato, and Shuichi Hiraoka
November 2018, The journal of physical chemistry letters,
Takeshi Yamamoto, and Hadi Arefi, and Sudhanshu Shanker, and Hirofumi Sato, and Shuichi Hiraoka
August 2006, Journal of the American Chemical Society,
Copied contents to your clipboard!