A new arylene ethynylene macrocycle (AEM) molecule bearing endo-acetamide groups was obtained by a Pd/Cu mediated homo-coupling reaction. Introducing tetraethylene glycol ether as a linkage between two C-shaped fragments substantially improved the final cyclization yield (30%). Concentration-dependent ¹HNMR experiments indicated that strong aggregates formed through H-bonds were observed for this new macrocycle with amide groups in solution. And also, this macrocycle was fluorescent in solution and showed a highly selective fluorescence quenching response toward the highly toxic Hg²⁺. More importantly, this macrocycle could induce gelation of several solvents. Significantly, an interesting aggregation-induced enhanced emission (AIEE) behavior was observed for this macrocycle upon gelation. Both SEM and TEM investigations revealed that nanoporous structures existed in the xerogels. This study offers a new molecular design approach to develop fluorescent gels from planar AEM molecules with a functional cavity.

中文翻译：

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具有多个乙酰胺修饰腔的形状持久性亚芳基乙炔大环：合成和凝胶化

通过Pd / Cu介导的均相偶联反应获得了带有内乙酰胺基团的新亚芳基乙炔基大环（AEM）分子。引入四甘醇醚作为两个C形片段之间的连接，可显着提高最终环化收率（30％）。浓度依赖性的¹ HNMR实验表明，对于这种新的具有酰胺基团的大环，观察到了通过H键形成的强聚集体。而且，该大环化合物在溶液中发荧光，并显示出对高毒性Hg ²⁺的高选择性荧光猝灭响应。更重要的是，该大环化合物可以诱导几种溶剂的胶凝。显着地，在凝胶化时观察到该大环的有趣的聚集诱导的增强发射（AIEE）行为。SEM和TEM研究均表明，干凝胶中存在纳米孔结构。这项研究提供了一种新的分子设计方法，可以从具有功能腔的平面AEM分子开发荧光凝胶。