Self-assembly and structural evolvement of polyoxometalate-anchored dendron complexes

A cationic dendritic molecule that has alkyl chains has been synthesized and employed to encapsulate anionic polyoxometalates through electrostatic interactions. The prepared surfactant-encapsulated polyoxometalate (SEP) complexes were used as building blocks to fabricate self-assemblies in solution and the solid state. Monodispersion, lamellar, and columnar assemblies of SEP complexes have been characterized in detail. With increasing the number of peripheral cationic dendrons on inorganic clusters, the SEPs undergo changes from globular assemblies to monodispersions in solution and from lamellar assemblies to hexagonal columnar structures in the solid state, depending on the amounts of cationic dendrons in the complexes. The structural evolvement was simulated through consideration of the size and shape of the cationic dendron and polyanionic clusters, and the experimental results are in good agreement with the interpretation of the simulations. The present research demonstrates a new kind of dendritic complex and provides a route for controlling their assembling states by simply alternating the number of cationic dendrons in the complexes.