Radical-Induced Hierarchical Self-Assembly Involving Supramolecular Coordination Complexes in Both Solution and Solid States

To explore a new supramolecular interaction as the main driving force to induce hierarchical self-assembly (HSA) is of great importance in supramolecular chemistry. Herein, we present a radical-induced HSA process through the construction of well-defined rhomboidal metallacycles containing triphenylamine (TPA) moieties. The light-induced radical generation of the TPA-based metallacycle has been demonstrated, which was found to subsequently drive hierarchical self-assembly of metallacycles in both solution and solid states. The morphologies of nanovesicle structures and nanospheres resulting from hierarchical self-assembly have been well-illustrated by using TEM and high-angle annular dark-field STEM (HAADF-STEM) micrographs. The mechanism of HSA is supposed to be associated with the TPA radical interaction and metallacycle stacking interaction, which has been supported by the coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. This study provides important information to understand the fundamental TPA radical interaction, which thus injects new energy into the hierarchical self-assembly of supramolecular coordination complexes (SCCs). More interestingly, the stability of TPA radical cations was significantly increased in these metallacycles during the hierarchical self-assembly process, thereby opening a new way to develop stable organic radical cations in the future.