Metallosupramolecular Polymers: Morphological Transformation Accompanied by Chirality Inversion

Guest Speaker： Prof. Jong Hwa Jung, Gyeongsang National University, Korea

Inviter: Prof. Chuanliang Feng

Date&Time: Wednesday, 21 Jan, 10:00-11:30

Venue: Hall 100, Materials Innovation Building  

Biography:

Jong Hwa Jung is a Professor of Chemistry at Gyeongsang National University (GNU), Republic of Korea. He received his B.S., M.S., and first Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry from Gyeongsang National University, followed by a second Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Kyushu University, Japan. His academic training spans analytical, inorganic, and organic chemistry, with a strong emphasis on supramolecular chemistry and nanomaterials.

Professor Jung has held research positions at several leading institutions, including Osaka University, Kyushu University, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST, Japan), and the Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI). Since 2006, he has been a faculty member at GNU, where he has also served as Director of major national research programs such as BK21 and WCU initiatives in molecular materials and nanochemistry.

His research focuses on supramolecular self-assembly, chiral supramolecular polymers, metallosupramolecular nanostructures, circularly polarized luminescence, and dynamic hierarchical nanomaterials. He is particularly recognized for pioneering contributions to helicity inversion, and chiral amplification in metal-coordinated systems.

Professor Jung has published more than 350 peer-reviewed papers in leading international journals, including Journal of the American Chemical Society, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Chemical Science, Nature Communications, ACS Nano, and Chemical Society Reviews. His work has significantly advanced the understanding of dynamic supramolecular systems and their functional applications in advanced materials.

Abstract:

Helical motifs, such as DNA and proteins, are ubiquitous in biomolecular systems. These structures often undergo helicity inversion during various physiological processes, which is frequently accompanied by specific biological functional transformations. Inspired by such biological helices and their associated chirality inversion phenomena, chemists have actively pursued the design of smart systems with tunable helical chirality for practical applications. In this context, stimuli-responsive supramolecular assemblies provide a versatile platform in which helical preference can be modulated by external stimuli, including changes in solvent or temperature, light irradiation, redox reactions, the addition of chemical species, or mechanical agitation.

Recently, we have investigated a unique dynamic helix inversion mechanism in self-assembled terpyridine-based ligands bearing different numbers of peptide moieties coordinated with metal ions. This mechanism enables chirality amplification originating from an achiral terpyridine framework. The helical chirality of the metal centers coordinated by terpyridine ligands is regulated by the interplay between molecular chirality and ligand-to-metal ion stoichiometry. Notably, we found that this distinct helix inversion behavior is strongly dependent on the number of peptide units attached to the ligands. In this conference, I will present our latest results on the synthesis of metal-coordinated supramolecular polymers and their morphological transformations accompanied by chirality inversion.