ABSTRACT
The incorporation of different functional groups into organic molecules is a common method to construct soft liquid crystalline materials with multiple properties and adjust mesophases from one-dimensional to three-dimensional structures. This article reports the synthesis, characterization, self-assembly, and binding selectivity behaviors of the first isoflavone-based hexacatenar liquid crystalline materials with an isoflavone as central rigid core and two 1,2,3-triazole dendritic wings as terminal functional units. Polarized optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) investigations indicated that all the compounds could self-assemble into rectangular columnar mesophase. The differences in temperature range of mesophase and sequence of mesophase compared with previously reported coumarin-based polycatenars were attributed to the change of position of carbonyl. The optical spectra indicated that these compounds display selectivity for Fe2+ among the different and cations. FT-IR and density functional theory calculations before and after interaction with Fe2+ were employed to demonstrate the recognition sites. The design strategy here provides a simple method to construct supramolecular self-assembly materials with wide properties and potentials.
Acknowledgments
We thank beamline 1W2A at Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BSRF), China.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).