Saha, SubhadeepChen, Yen-TingGanta, SudhakarGilles, MarkusHolzapfel, BjörnLill, PascalRehage, HeinzGatsogiannis, ChristosClever, Guido H.2022-03-042022-03-042021-11-26http://hdl.handle.net/2003/4076310.17877/DE290R-22620Metallo-supramolecular self-assembly has yielded a plethora of discrete nanosystems, many of which show competence in capturing guests and catalyzing chemical reactions. However, the potential of low-molecular bottom-up self-assemblies in the development of structured inorganic materials has rarely been methodically explored so far. Herein, we present a new type of metallo-supramolecular surfactant with the ability to stabilize non-aqueous emulsions for a significant period. The molecular design of the surfactant is based on a heteroleptic coordination cage (CGA-3; CGA=Cage-based Gemini Amphiphile), assembled from two pairs of organic building blocks, grouped around two Pd(II) cations. Shape-complementarity between the differently functionalized components generates discrete amphiphiles with a tailor-made polarity profile, able to stabilize non-aqueous emulsions, such as hexadecane-in-DMSO. These emulsions were used as a medium for the synthesis of spherical metal oxide microcapsules (titanium oxide, zirconium oxide, and niobium oxide) from soluble, water-sensitive alkoxide precursors by allowing a controlled dosage of water to the liquid-liquid phase boundary. Synthesized materials were analyzed by a combination of electron microscopic techniques. In situ liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (LC-TEM) was utilized for the first time to visualize the dynamics of the emulsion-templated formation of hollow inorganic titanium oxide and zirconium oxide microspheres.enChemistry - a European journal;28(5)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Coordination cagesEmulsionsMetal oxidesSelf-assemblyTransmission electron microscopy540article (journal)