Construction of supramolecular hyperbranched polymers based on a tetrathiafulvalene derivative: self-assembly and charge transfer interaction with TCNQ

Abstract In the present work, a four naphthyl-armed tetrathiafulvalene derivative (TTFB) was designed and synthesized through one-step reaction. Based on the host-guest interaction between naphthyl and cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]), supramolecular hyperbranched polymers (SHPs) can be constructed in water, depending on hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectra, UV-vis absorption spectroscopy and diffusion-ordered NMR spectroscopy (DOSY). The self-assembly properties of the SHPs were further investigated by zeta potential analyzer, dynamic laser light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements, which exhibited positively charged spherical structures with the diameter at ∼120 nm. More interestingly, the SHPs can interact with TCNQ (7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane) to form charge transfer complexes through charge transfer interaction. Meanwhile, the self-assembly structures can be transformed from spherical structures to crosslinked nanoparticles in the charge transfer complexes state.