Microtubes and hollow microspheres formed by winding of nanoribbons from self-assembly of tetraphenylethylene amide macrocycles.

New amide macrocycles based on tetraphenylethylene (TPE) were synthesized. It was found that the TPE amide macrocycles could form microtubes in H2O-THF with 70-80% water by the rolling up of big nanoribbons but produced hollow microspheres in 90% or more water by the winding of thin nanoribbons. The microtubes emitted blue light while the hollow microspheres showed blue-green fluorescence.