Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are relatively promising green solvents due to their low toxicity, high stability, and tunable structures. Despite their advantages, research on G-quadruplex ionic soft materials based on DESs remains scarce. Herein, we report the construction of G-quadruplex lamellar liquid crystals in DESs, specifically in choline chloride-ethylene glycol (ChCl-EG) mixtures. Our study may develop a solvent-mediated strategy and elucidate a formation mechanism driven by the oriented arrangement of solvent molecules, which plays a crucial role in the formation of lamellar structures. Dynamic borate esters were found to weaken inter-G-quadruplex interactions while enhancing G-quadruplex-solvent interactions. We investigated the effects of metal ions (K+, Na+, Ca2+, Sr2+, and Ba2+) and reactant concentrations on G-quadruplex assembly, revealing that metal ions control the stacking mode and regulate the mechanical properties of the resulting gels. The G-quadruplex lamellar liquid crystal exhibited high ionic conductivity (4.6 mS·cm-1) and a wide electrochemical window (4.6 V). This work may advance the understanding of the G-quadruplex, establish DESs as versatile platforms for designing ionic soft materials, and open new avenues for applications in flexible electronics and energy storage.
Wang et al. (Mon,) studied this question.