Solvent-polarity-tuned nanostructures assembled from modified octadecylcarbamate with an anthracen moiety

Anthracen-9-ylmethyl octadecylcarbamate (A-9-YMOC) contains an anthracen headgroup, an imide group, and a long alkyl chain, which could show π–π stacking, hydrogen-bonding, and van der Waals interactions, respectively. The capability of A-9-YMOC to form well-ordered micro/nanostructures in different solvents was explored. And the influence of solvents with various polarities that can modulate the self-assembly behavior, including H-bond-forming solvents, π-stacking-forming solvents or van der Waals-type solvents was studied. In addition, different supramolecular architectures, including nanofibers and nanoflowers were observed during the solvent-polarity-tuned process, which were found to have different molecular arrangements. This work may provide a facile method to manipulate the morphology and properties of self-assembled low-molecular-weight organic building blocks.