An Accelerated Modular-Orthogonal Ni-Catalyzed Methodology to Symmetric and Nonsymmetric Constitutional Isomeric AB2 to AB9 Dendrons Exhibiting Unprecedented Self-Organizing Principles.

Five libraries of natural and synthetic phenolic acids containing five AB3, ten constitutional isomeric AB2, one AB4, and one AB5 were previously synthesized and reported by our laboratory in 5 to 11 steps. They were employed to construct seven libraries of self-assembling dendrons, by divergent generational, deconstruction, and combined approaches, enabling the discovery of a diversity of supramolecular assemblies including Frank-Kasper phases, soft quasicrystals, and complex helical organizations, some undergoing deracemization in the crystal state. However, higher substitution patterns within a single dendron were not accessible. Here we report three libraries consisting of 30 symmetric and nonsymmetric constitutional isomeric phenolic acids with unprecedented sequenced patterns, including two AB2, three AB3, eight AB4, five AB5, six AB6, three AB7, two AB8, and one AB9 synthesized by accelerated modular-orthogonal Ni-catalyzed borylation and cross-coupling. A single etherification step with 4-(n-dodecyloxy)benzyl chloride transformed all these phenolic acids, of interest also for other applications, into self-assembling dendrons. Despite this synthetic simplicity, they led to a diversity of unprecedented self-organizing principles: lamellar structures of interest for biological membrane mimics, helical columnar assemblies from rigid-solid angle dendrons forming Tobacco Mosaic Virus-like assemblies, columnar organizations from adaptable-solid angle dendrons forming disordered micellar-like nonhelical columns, columns from supramolecular spheres, five body-centered cubic phases displaying supramolecular orientational memory, rarely encountered in previous libraries forming predominantly Frank-Kasper phases, and two Frank-Kasper phases. Lessons from these self-organizing principles, discovered within a single generation of self-assembling dendrons, may help elaborate design principles for complex helical and nonhelical organizations of synthetic and biological matter.

Using Visible Light to Tune Boronic Acid-Ester Equilibria.

We report a series of azobenzene boronic acids that reversibly control the extent of diol binding via photochemical isomerization. When the boronic acid is ortho to the azo group, the thermodynamically favored E isomer binds weakly with diols to form boronic esters. The isomerization of the (E)-azobenzene to its Z isomer enhances diol binding, and the magnitude of this enhancement is affected by the azobenzene structure. 2,6-Dimethoxy azobenzene boronic acids show an over 20-fold enhancement in binding upon E → Z isomerization, which can be triggered with red light. Competition experiments and computational studies suggest that the changes in the binding affinity originate from the stabilization of the (E)-boronic acids and the destabilization of the (E)-boronic esters. We demonstrate a correlation between diol binding and the photostationary state, such that different wavelengths of irradiation yield different quantities of the bound diol. Higher binding constants for the Z isomer relative to the E isomer were observed with all diols investigated, including cyclic diols, nitrocatechol, biologically relevant compounds, and polyols. This photoswitch was employed to "catch and release" a fluorophore-tagged diol in buffered water. By tethering this photoswitch to a poly(ethylene glycol) star polymer, we can tune the stiffness of covalent adaptable hydrogels using different wavelengths of visible light. This paper describes how structural modifications of azobenzenes can influence the isomerism-dependent thermodynamics of their dynamic covalent bonds with small molecules and macromolecules.