Designed synthesis and supramolecular architectures of furan-substituted perylene diimide

•A series of furan-substituted perylene diimide derivatives were synthesized.•An efficient supramolecular architecture approach was demonstrated.•Studies indicate the micro-rods displayed interesting optical waveguide behavior.

Novel furan-substituted perylene diimides are successfully synthesized and an efficient supramolecular architecture approach to construct zero/one-dimensional nano- and micro-structures by controlling solvents has been demonstrated. The aggregate structure conversion in different molecular structures can be controlled in the form of sphere-like, rod-like, and vesicle-like structures. As expected, these solid supramolecular rod-like architectures displayed interesting optical waveguide behavior, which indicates the aggregate structure materials of furan-substituted perylene diimides have the potential application as micro-scale photonic elements.

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