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Macroscopic self-assembly through molecular recognition

Nature Chemistry volume 3, pages 34–37 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Molecular recognition plays an important role in nature, with perhaps the best known example being the complementarity exhibited by pairs of nucleobases in DNA. Studies of self-assembling and self-organizing systems based on molecular recognition are often performed at the molecular level, however, and any macroscopic implications of these processes are usually far removed from the specific molecular interactions. Here, we demonstrate that well-defined molecular-recognition events can be used to direct the assembly of macroscopic objects into larger aggregated structures. Acrylamide-based gels functionalized with either host (cyclodextrin) rings or small hydrocarbon-group guest moieties were synthesized. Pieces of host and guest gels are shown to adhere to one another through the mutual molecular recognition of the cyclodextrins and hydrocarbon groups on their surfaces. By changing the size and shape of the host and guest units, different gels can be selectively assembled and sorted into distinct macroscopic structures that are on the order of millimetres to centimetres in size.

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Figure 1: Chemical structures of host and guest gels.
Figure 2: Macroscopic self-assembly between CD host gels and guest gels.
Figure 3: Visualization of specific molecular recognition events on a macroscopic scale.
Figure 4: Proposed structures of the complexes formed between CDs and guests attached to a gel.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank T. Inoue and O. Urakawa (Department of Macromolecular Science, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University) for their help in the measurements of stress and strain of gels. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), the Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST) program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Macromolecular Science, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, 560-0043, Osaka, Japan

    Akira Harada, Ryosuke Kobayashi, Yoshinori Takashima, Akihito Hashidzume & Hiroyasu Yamaguchi

  2. Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), 5 Sanbancho, Chiyoda-ku, 102-0075, Tokyo, Japan

    Akira Harada

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  1. Akira Harada
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  2. Ryosuke Kobayashi
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  4. Akihito Hashidzume
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  5. Hiroyasu Yamaguchi
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Contributions

A. Harada conceived the project and designed the experiments. R.K. contributed to the synthesis of the host and guest gels. A. Harada, Y.T., A. Hashidzume and H.Y. analysed the data and co-wrote the paper. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Akira Harada.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Harada, A., Kobayashi, R., Takashima, Y. et al. Macroscopic self-assembly through molecular recognition. Nature Chem 3, 34–37 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.893

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