Self-Assembly of Biphenyl Hybrid Dendrons into Supramolecular Hollow Columns

Amphiphilic dendrons containing different alkoxy biphenylmethyl ether peripheral units attached to 3,4-positions of a methyl benzoate receptor have been synthesized. Structural and retrostructural analysis by a combination of thermal optical polarized microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, powder X-ray diffraction and molecular modeling experiments has demonstrated that these alkoxy biphenyl-based hybrid dendritic esters self-assemble into supramolecular hollow columns that self-organize in columnar hexagonal assemblies with well-defined size. The self-assembling biphenyl hybrid dendrons provide the simplest design strategy for supramolecular nanostructures that can be useful in fabrication of porous membrane and other pore-forming materials.