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Almut Rapp

Publications and source records attributed to Almut Rapp.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Self-assembly of semifluorinated dendrons attached to electron-donor groups mediates their pi-stacking via a helical pyramidal column.

Semifluorinated first-generation self-assembling dendrons attached via a flexible spacer to electron-donor molecules induce pi-stacking of the donors in the center of a supramolecular helical pyramidal column. These helical pyramidal columns self-organize in various columnar liquid crystal phases that mediate self-processing of large single crystal liquid crystal domains of columns and self-repair their intracolumnar structural defects. In addition, all supramolecular columns exhibit a columnar phase at lower temperatures that maintains the helical pyramidal columnar supramolecular structure and displays higher intracolumnar order than that in the liquid crystals phases. The results described here demonstrate the universality of this concept, the power of the fluorous phase or the fluorophobic effect in self-assembly and the unexpected generality of pyramidal liquid crystals.

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PubMed2004

Shape-persistent macrocycles with intraannular polar groups: synthesis, liquid crystallinity, and 2D organization.

The synthesis of macrocycles with intraannular polar ester groups and extraannular oligo-alkyl groups is described. The compounds exhibit stable liquid crystalline phases showing fan-shaped textures under the polarizing microscope, typical for a columnar order of the molecules. X-ray powder diffraction data of the LC phase indicate that the unit cell contains two symmetry-related units, a feature pointing most probably to a restricted rotation of the macrocycles within a stack. The X-ray data were further supported by solid-state NMR experiments, showing that the rigid core of the compounds does not rotate with kHz or higher frequencies within the column in the LC phase. Apart from the organization of the molecules in the LC phase, the 2D organization of the macrocycles at the solvent-highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) interface was investigated and showed that these compounds are capable of nanofunctionalizing the HOPG surface in the multinanometer regime.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Supramolecular assembly of dendritic polymers elucidated by 1H and 13C solid-state MAS NMR spectroscopy.

Advanced solid-state NMR methods under fast magic-angle spinning (MAS) are used to study the structure and dynamics of large supramolecular systems, which consist of a polymer backbone with dendritic side groups and self-assemble into a columnar structure. The NMR experiments are performed on as-synthesized samples, i.e., no isotopic enrichment is required. The analysis of (1)H NMR chemical-shift effects as well as dipolar (1)H-(1)H or (1)H-(13)C couplings provide site-specific insight into the local structure and the segmental dynamics, in particular, of phenyl rings and -CH(2)O- linking units within the dendrons. Relative changes of (1)H chemical shifts (of up to -3 ppm) serve as distance constraints and allow protons to be positioned relative to aromatic rings. Together with dipolar spinning sideband patterns, pi-pi packing phenomena and local order parameters (showing variations between 30% and 100%) are selectively and precisely determined, enabling the identification of the dendron cores as the structure-directing moieties within the supramolecular architecture. The study is carried out over a representative selection of systems which reflect characteristic differences, such as different polymer backbones, sizes of dendritic side groups, or length and flexibility of linking units. While the polymer backbone is found to have virtually no effect on the overall structure and properties, the systems are sensitively affected by changing the generation or the linkage of the dendrons. The results help to understand the self-assembly process of dendritic moieties and aid the chemical design of self-organizing molecular structures.

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