Pathway Complexity in Supramolecular Porphyrin Self-Assembly at an Immiscible Liquid-Liquid Interface

Iván Robayo-Molina, Andrés F. Molina-Osorio, Luke Guinane, Syed A.M. Tofail, Micheál D. Scanlon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Nanostructures that are inaccessible through spontaneous thermodynamic processes may be formed by supramolecular self-assembly under kinetic control. In the past decade, the dynamics of pathway complexity in self-assembly have been elucidated through kinetic models based on aggregate growth by sequential monomer association and dissociation. Immiscible liquid-liquid interfaces are an attractive platform to develop well-ordered self-assembled nanostructures, unattainable in bulk solution, due to the templating interaction of the interface with adsorbed molecules. Here, we report time-resolved in situ UV-vis spectroscopic observations of the self-assembly of zinc(II) meso-tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (ZnTPPc) at an immiscible aqueous-organic interface. We show that the kinetically favored metastable J-type nanostructures form quickly, but then transform into stable thermodynamically favored H-type nanostructures. Numerical modeling revealed two parallel and competing cooperative pathways leading to the different porphyrin nanostructures. These insights demonstrate that pathway complexity is not unique to self-assembly processes in bulk solution and is equally valid for interfacial self-assembly. Subsequently, the interfacial electrostatic environment was tuned using a kosmotropic anion (citrate) in order to influence the pathway selection. At high concentrations, interfacial nanostructure formation was forced completely down the kinetically favored pathway, and only J-type nanostructures were obtained. Furthermore, we found by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy that the J- and H-type nanostructures obtained at low and high citric acid concentrations, respectively, are morphologically distinct, which illustrates the pathway-dependent material properties.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)9060-9069
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of the American Chemical Society
Volume143
Issue number24
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 Jun 2021

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