Masato Ikeda

Stimuli-responsive supramolecular hydro­gels comprising self-assembled nanofiber networks are attractive soft materials because of their potential application in materials science and bionanotechnology. Here, we describe a general strategy for the rational design of stimuli (redox- or photo-)responsive supramolecular hydrogelators by introducing stimuli-triggered degradation units into the N-terminal of a dipeptide. We also demonstrate that its coupling with glucose oxidase allows us to produce

Fluorescent sensor materials for rapidly and conveniently detecting polyamines in biological fluids are highly desirable for cancer diagnosis. We herein describe the hybridization of a supramolecular hydrogel with a layered inorganic host adsorbing a fluorescent dye which produces a fluorocolorimetric sensor for spermine and spermidine, important biomarkers for cancers, in artificial urine.

We describe the construction of the first double-stranded metallosupramolecular helical polymers. We designed and synthesized a supramolecular duplex comprised of complementary m-terphenyl-based strands bearing a chiral amidine or achiral carboxylic acid together with two pyridine groups at the four ends. Supramolecular polymerization of the duplex with cis-PtPh2(DMSO)2 in 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane produced the double-stranded metallosupramolecular polymer with a controlled helicity of which the

We have found that compound 1 forms organogels in appropriate organic solvents and the resultant gel phase exhibits unusual emission properties arising from the excimer formation.

The development of protein and sensor arrays is crucial for rapid and high-throughput assays of biological events, markers, environmental pollutants, and others. We describe supramolecular hydrogel as a unique material for use as a matrix for immobilizing proteins, peptides, substrates, chemosensors, and mesoporous silica particles, and thereby array them on solid supports. The semi-wet conditions provided by the gel, which consists of 3D supramolecular nanofiber network structure, are suitable

Going straight: A luminescent composite of poly(p-phenylenevinylene) (PPV) and amylose was synthesized by direct polymerization of the precursor monomer in aqueous media in the presence of amylose. The PPV–amylose composite consists of a rigid-rod PPV segment threaded into a flexible amylose tube and self-assembles into liquid-crystalline phases. Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW under http://www.wiley-vch.de/contents/jc_2002/2006/z602134_s.pdf or from the author. P

A supramolecular hydrogel 1, prepared at high concentration (5–10 wt%), exhibited mechanical toughness comparable to that of a polymer hydrogel, even though the gel was constructed solely by noncovalent bonding interactions among small molecules. The mechanical toughness and thermal reversibility of gel 1 allowed us to fabricate a supramolecular hydrogel capsule (SH-capsule) 1 which was easily handled and was stable in aqueous and cell culture media. The mechanical and substance-release/uptake p

A series of cerium(IV) bis-porphyrinate double-deckers [Ce(bbpp)(2)] (BBPP=5,15-bis(4-butoxyphenyl)porphyrin dianion), [Ce(tmpp)(2)] (TMPP=5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-methoxyphenyl)porphyrin dianion), [Ce(tfpp)(2)] (TFPP=5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-fluorophenyl)porphyrin dianion), [Ce(tmcpp)(2)] (TMCPP=5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-methoxycarbonylphenyl)porphyrin dianion), and [Ce(tmpp)(tmcpp)] was prepared. They bind three Ag(+) ions to their concave porphyrin pi subunits (pi-clefts) according to a positive homotr

We succeeded in the quantitative and selective introduction of an ammonium cationic group into the C6 position of Curdlan (CUR) by "Click Chemistry", and the obtained cationic Curdlan (CUR-N+) showed good solubility in water. ORD studies suggested that CUR-N+ adopts a single-stranded structure, different from a right-handed, triple-stranded helical structure of beta-1,3-glucan polysaccharides in water. It has been revealed that the polymeric complexes of CUR-N+ with polymeric guest molecules, su

[reaction: see text] A cerium(IV) double decker porphyrin (1) bearing four 4-methoxyphenyl groups was synthesized. Compound 1 shows a positive, homotoropic allosteric effect in metal recognition of Ag(+) ion, and the peripheral pi clefts of 1 act as effective binding sites for Ag(+) ion.

The bow-shaped molecule 1 bearing a self-complementary DAAD-ADDA (D=donor A=acceptor) hydrogen-bonding array generates, in hydrocarbon solvents, highly ordered supramolecular sheet aggregates that subsequently give rise to gels by formation of an entangled network. The process of hierarchical self-assembly of compound 1 was investigated by the concentration and temperature dependence of UV-visible and (1)H NMR spectra, fluorescence spectra, and electron microscopy data. The temperature dependenc

A boronic acid-appended fluorescent receptor was incorporated into self-assembled nanofibers containing a hydrophobic FRET-paired dye to develop a gel-based fluorocolorimetric sensor for polyols. We demonstrated that the gel-based sensor is capable of detecting polyols such as catechol and dopamine not only under semi-wet conditions, but also under dry conditions using a paper platform.

Controlling the morphology of supramolecular nanostructures in response to external stimuli is an important challenge in the development of functional soft materials. Here we show that a morphological transformation from 2D nanosheets to a network of 1D nanofibers is triggered by heating, which induces molecular conversion of a bolaamphiphile to a hydrogelator by means of a retro-Diels-Alder reaction, thereby producing a new heat-set supramolecular hydrogel. We anticipate that our design will be