Supramolecular Assembly of Pyrene-DNA Conjugates into Vesicles

Over the last two decades, supramolecular polymers have been successfully used for the assembly of organized molecular arrays. Complementary DNA strands create a defined arrangement upon hybridizing and the obtained DNA framework can be exploited for the introduction of modifications at spatially controlled places of the supramolecular assemblies. In previous work, assemblies containing DNA were decorated with sticky ends containing polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Our group observed light-harvesting properties in supramolecular vesicles assembled from phenanthrene-DNA conjugates.[1] In addition, aggregation-induced emission (AIE) type chromophores were introduced as sticky ends forming AIE-active supramolecular assemblies using E-tetraphenylethylenes instead of phenanthrene.[2] In this work, 2,7-pyrene (Figure 1A), 1,6-pyrene, and 1,8-pyrene was investigated as stick end modification to DNA. AFM studies of 2,7-pyrene reveal the self-assembly of the conjugates into spherical objects (Figure 1B). Similar results were obtained for DNA-conjugates of the 1,6-pyrene and 1,8-pyrene isomers. In addition to AFM studies, fluorescence and UV-vis spectroscopy will be presented and discussed.