Recently, the research progress related to hierarchical self-assembly from Dr. Junyan Zhu was published in the prestigious journal of Nanoscale (IF=6.970) in chemical field, entitled “Hierarchical self-assembly of helical coordination polymers and formation of a lamellar structure via the cooperativity of two-step Ag(I) coordination and Pi-Pi interactions” (DOI: 10.1039/D0NR00299B).

Hierarchical self-assembly is one of the most sophisticated bottom-up approaches used by living organisms to construct desirable architectures using molecular building blocks. Therefore, in-depth exploration of the hierarchical self-assembly processes and the underlying mechanism are vital to mimic or even surpass nature’s designs and meet real-life applications (Acc. Chem. Res. 2018, 51, 2047-2063). Nevertheless, to date, it remains an incredibly paramount challenge to thoroughly decipher the hierarchical self-assembly process due to the unmanageable complexity involving in the cooperative of the multiple non-covalent interactions (ACS Nano 2019, 13, 3618-3628). Herein, by using a simple molecular module, the hierarchical self-assembly from a V-shaped ligand to an initial interlocked dimer, further to a coordination polymer with an alternate linear and interlocked helical configuration and finally to a lamellar structure with an undulating surface was precisely achieved in sequence via the cooperativity of two-step Ag (I) coordination and Pi-Pi interactions for the first time. This work shed new light on the hierarchical self-assembly process based on the cooperative multiple non-covalent interactions. Particularly, the secondary assembly of the supramolecular helix provided an efficient means for developing novel types of two dimensional functional materials with a tailored surface and properties. The postgraduate student of Shi Wang from the college of chemistry and chemical engineering is the first author. Dr. Junyan Zhu is the first corresponding author and Henan University is the first signature institution.

This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation for Youth, Henan University Cultivation Foundation for Outstanding Youth, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Outstanding Young Talent Support Program. We also thank the strong support from College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Henan Engineering Laboratory of Flame-Retardant and Functional Materials. 

The link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1039/D0NR00299B