Supramolecular self-assembly of emissive conjugated molecules has gained tremendous attention over the past few decades. In this study, two dumbbell-shaped org
anogelators with a
p-quaterphenylene core were synthesized
and their gelation behaviors investigated. The two gelators exhibited aggregation-induced emission, which not only provided
an in-situ method to optically study the gelation process but also endowed these self-assemblies with subst
antial applications in sensing explosives, such as picric acid. Qu
antitative studies showed that self-assemblies of
p-quaterphenylene-based molecules displayed a better sensing perform
ance for picric acid th
an those of the
p-terphenylene counterpart
and tetraphenylethene. More information c
an be found in the Full Paper by Yul
an Chen et al. on
page 52 in Issue 1, 2017 (DOI:
10.1002/asia.201601388).