@article{RestPhilipsDuennebackeetal.2020,
  author    = {Rest, Christina and Philips, Divya Susan and D{\"u}nnebacke, Torsten and Sutar, Papri and Sampedro, Angel and Droste, J{\"o}rn and Stepanenko, Vladimir and Hansen, Michael Ryan and Albuquerque, Rodrigo Q. and Fern{\´a}ndez, Gustavo},
  title     = {Tuning Aqueous Supramolecular Polymerization by an Acid-Responsive Conformational Switch},
  series = {Chemistry - A European Journal},
  volume    = {26},
  journal   = {Chemistry - A European Journal},
  number    = {44},
  doi       = {10.1002/chem.202001566},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-218118},
  pages     = {10005 -- 10013},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {Besides their widespread use in coordination chemistry, 2,2'-bipyridines are known for their ability to undergo cis-trans conformational changes in response to metal ions and acids, which has been primarily investigated at the molecular level. However, the exploitation of such conformational switching in self-assembly has remained unexplored. In this work, the use of 2,2'-bipyridines as acid-responsive conformational switches to tune supramolecular polymerization processes has been demonstrated. To achieve this goal, we have designed a bipyridine-based linear bolaamphiphile, 1, that forms ordered supramolecular polymers in aqueous media through cooperative aromatic and hydrophobic interactions. Interestingly, addition of acid (TFA) induces the monoprotonation of the 2,2'-bipyridine moiety, leading to a switch in the molecular conformation from a linear (trans) to a V-shaped (cis) state. This increase in molecular distortion along with electrostatic repulsions of the positively charged bipyridine-H\(^{+}\) units attenuate the aggregation tendency and induce a transformation from long fibers to shorter thinner fibers. Our findings may contribute to opening up new directions in molecular switches and stimuli-responsive supramolecular materials.},
  language  = {en}
}