Assembly and Characterization of Novel Hydrogen-Bond-Induced
Nanoscale Rods
Yang Liu,†,‡ Yongjun Li,†,‡ Li Jiang,†,§ Haiyang Gan,†,‡ Huibiao Liu,† Yuliang Li,*,†
Junpeng Zhuang,† Fushen Lu,†,‡ and Daoben Zhu*,†
CAS Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Center for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, P.R. China, Graduate School of Chinese
Academy of Sciences, and Department of Applied Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology,
Heilongjiang 150001, P.R. China
Received August 10, 2004
A class of bis-urea compounds with perylene bisimide was synthesized and characterized
successfully. 1H NMR and fluorescence spectra confirmed that strong hydrogen-bonding interactions
between neighboring urea groups were formed. Interestingly, the photocurrent measurement showed
that the self-assembled films of bis-urea compounds could produce steady and rapid anodic
photocurrent responses. The TEM images indicated that well-defined nanoscale rods with uniform
diameter distribution could be fabricated by self-assembly of hydrogen-bonding interactions and
π-π stacking interactions of perylene rings.
Introduction
between donor and acceptor unites.4 The urea functional-
ity has been utilized to create highly organized hydrogen-
bonded molecular assemblies.5 A class of compounds that
is particularly well suited for the spatial organization of
functional entities is bis-urea compounds.6 Bis-urea
compounds with the thiophene moiety self-assembled into
ribbons and fibers through multiple hydrogen bonds with
neighboring molecules have been synthesized.7 A class
of bis-urea macrocycles that self-assembled into columnar
nanotubes via urea-urea hydrogen bonding was re-
There is growing interest in supramolecular chemistry
in attempts to construct organic molecules into well-
defined functional aggregates.1 Well-defined nanosized
aggregates should be very useful for the development of
novel functional materials and nanoelectronic devices. In
particular, hydrogen bonding is a very useful means of
constructing the supramolecular system and has been
used for the design of various molecular aggregates.2
Meanwhile, energy- and electron-transfer processes have
also been investigated in the assembled supramolecular
systems through the interaction of hydrogen bonds.3
Hydrogen bonding assemblies are most promising to
fabricate a controllable molecular array and shape for
efficient intermolecular energy and electron transfer
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† Chinese Academy of Sciences.
‡ Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences.
§ Harbin Institute of Technology.
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10.1021/jo0486037 CCC: $27.50 © 2004 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 11/11/2004
J. Org. Chem. 2004, 69, 9049-9054
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