Guanosine-based hydrogen-bonded scaffolds:: Controlling the assembly of oligothiophenes

The scaffolding of a pi-conjugated oligomer, namely terthiophene, is achieved by taking advantage of the self-assembly of a guanosine derivative into highly directional H-bonded networks. Reversible interconversion allows switching between ribbons and quartet-based assemblies in solution. The self-assembly of 1 on surfaces lead to large lamellae of straight ribbons, ultimately forming ID conjugated arrays as prototypes of supramolecular nanowires.