Pnictogen Bond-Mediated Coassemblies for Noncovalent Molecular Glass

Area of Science:

• Supramolecular Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Chemical Crystallography

Background:

• Pnictogen bonds (PnB), interactions involving group-15 elements, are recognized as σ- or π-hole-based interactions.
• PnBs have shown promise in anion recognition and organocatalysis.
• The potential of PnBs in designing coassembled materials with lone pair acceptors is underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of antimony (Sb)-based PnB donors in creating self-assembled chiroptical materials.
• To explore the complexation between Sb-based PnB donors and lone pair electron acceptors.
• To understand how PnB complexation influences material properties and self-assembly behavior.

Main Methods:

• Utilized antimony (Sb) as pnictogen bond donors.
• Employed acceptors with lone pair electrons for complexation.
• Analyzed steric and electronic effects influencing σ-hole exposure and strength.
• Characterized resulting materials for crystallinity, photophysical, morphological, and chiroptical properties.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated Sb-based PnB donors can produce self-assembled chiroptical materials with lone pair acceptors.
• Observed significant evolution in material properties (crystallinity, photophysics, morphology, chiroptics) upon PnB complexation.
• Reported accelerated photoisomerization in PnB complexes.
• Generated amorphous structures leading to glassy materials due to multiple σ-holes in Sb donors.

Conclusions:

• Antimony-based pnictogen bonds are effective in designing novel self-assembled chiroptical materials.
• PnB complexation offers a pathway to tune material properties, including photoisomerization and morphology.
• The study highlights the potential of PnBs in creating advanced functional materials, such as amorphous glassy systems.