Pnictogen-Bond-Directed Self-Assembly of Sb and As Cages Enables Partitioning of Organic Reaction Media.
- 1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, 1204 Boston Avenue, Lubbock, Texas79409-1061, United States.
Abstract
Pnictogen bonding directs self-assembly of antimony- and arsenic-based thiolate cages in organic media, with the Sb system forming persistent reversed-bilayer vesicles capable of chemical compartmentalization. This is demonstrated using chemoswitchable fluorescent probes that selectively quench extravesicular species. In contrast, As analogues form dynamic, transient assemblies with diminished compartmentalization. Density functional theory calculations reveal reduced electrostatic potential and cooperativity in the As systems, consistent with weaker pnictogen bonding interactions. These results establish pnictogen identity as a key factor governing vesicle stability and demonstrate a potentially general strategy for probing compartmentalization in nonaqueous systems.
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BibTeX
@article{villanueva2026pnictogenbonddirected,
title = {{Pnictogen-Bond-Directed Self-Assembly of Sb and As Cages Enables Partitioning of Organic Reaction Media.}},
author = {Olivia H Villanueva and Lina M Delgado and Lauren A Moran and Mychele Jorns and Dimitri Pappas and Anthony F Cozzolino},
journal = {Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1021/acs.langmuir.6c03881},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42917985},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Pnictogen-Bond-Directed Self-Assembly of Sb and As Cages Enables Partitioning of Organic Reaction Media.
AU - Olivia H Villanueva
AU - Lina M Delgado
AU - Lauren A Moran
AU - Mychele Jorns
AU - Dimitri Pappas
AU - Anthony F Cozzolino
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
JO - Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids
DO - 10.1021/acs.langmuir.6c03881
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42917985
AB - Pnictogen bonding directs self-assembly of antimony- and arsenic-based thiolate cages in organic media, with the Sb system forming persistent reversed-bilayer vesicles capable of chemical compartmentalization. This is demonstrated using chemoswitchable fluorescent probes that selectively quench extravesicular species. In contrast, As analogues form dynamic, transient assemblies with diminished compartmentalization. Density functional theory calculations reveal reduced electrostatic potential and cooperativity in the As systems, consistent with weaker pnictogen bonding interactions. These results establish pnictogen identity as a key factor governing vesicle stability and demonstrate a potentially general strategy for probing compartmentalization in nonaqueous systems.
SN - 0743-7463
SN - 1520-5827
ER -