Research
The research in the Amphiphilic Molecules and Supramolecular Polymers group at UCM focuses on the synthesis of new self-assembling molecules and on the study of their self-assembly process either in solution or onto surfaces. The research group of Dr. Luis Sánchez is especially interested in the investigation of transference and amplification of chirality phenomena produced in supramolecular polymers. The asymmetry embedded in the monomeric self-assembling units can be transferred to the final supramolecular ensemble to yield helical structures. More interestingly, it is possible to achieve chiral amplification by mixing different supramolecular entities that contribute to achieve enantioenriched helical aggregates. This transfer and amplification of chirality, closely related with the origin of natural homochirality and useful to achieve functional aggregates, is being thoroughly investigated in our research group both experimentally and by using theoretical calculations.
The formation of a vast majority of the supramolecular polymers reported so far is thermodynamically controlled. That means that the self-assembly of the corresponding monomeric units yields only one type of supramolecular structure. However, the operation of pathway complexity, that is, the possibility to achieve different output from only one type of starting materials, is ubiquitous in life sciences. The addition of nucleophiles to α,β-unsaturated carbonyls, the different conductive phases in organic semiconductors or fatal diseases like Alzheimer or Parkinson, relies on pathway complexity. We are pretty much involved in the investigation of pathway complexity in the field of supramolecular polymers that allows achieving supramolecular aggregates with different properties (chirality, emission, etc). These properties, in turn, can be tuned by incorporating the factor time. These studies also open the way to investigate complex processes like seeded or living supramolecular polymerizations to afford functional materials with enhanced properties.
Members
Coordinator
Dr. Luís Sánchez Martín (Full Professor)
Other members
Dr. Rafael Gómez (Asistant Professor)
Yeray Dorca (PhD Student)
Elisa E. Greciano (PhD Student)
Manuel A. Martínez (PhD Student)
Cristina Naranjo (PhD Student)
Lucía López (PhD Student)
Selected Publications
Disclosing chirality in consecutive supramolecular polymerizations: chiral induction by light in N-annulated perylenetetracarboxamides. E. E. Greciano, R. Rodríguez, K. Maeda, L. Sánchez, Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 2244-2247 (Article selected for Inside Cover Issue)
Revising complex supramolecular polymerization under kinetic and thermodynamic control. J. Matern, Y. Dorca, L. Sánchez, G. Fernández, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 16730-16740
Unraveling Concomitant Packing Polymorphism in Metallosupramolecular Polymers. A. Langenstroer, K. K. Kartha, Y. Dorca, J. Droste, V. Stepanenko, R. Q. Albuquerque, M. R. Hansen, L. Sánchez, G. Fernández, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 5192-5200 (Article selected for the Cover Issue)
Decoding the Consequences of Increasing the Size of Self-Assembling Tricarboxamides on Chiral Amplification. E. E. Greciano, J. Calbo, J. Buendía, J. Cerdá, J. Aragó, E. Ortí, L. Sánchez, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 7463-7472 (Article selected for the Cover Issue)
Kinetic traps to activate stereomutation in supramolecular polymers. J. S. Valera, R. Gómez, L. Sánchez, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 510-514