Reversing the Trend: Deciphering Self-Assembly of Unconventional Amphiphiles Having Both Alkyl-Chain and PEG

Rita Ghosh, Bharat Singh, Subhadip Basu, Avijit Mondal, Prabal Kumar Maiti, Mrinmoy De

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

In the field of molecular self-assembly, the core of an assembly is always made up of hydrophobic moiety like a long alkyl chain, whereas the outer part has always been a hydrophilic moiety such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), or charged species. Hence, reversing the trend to manifest self-assembled structures with a PEG core and a surface consisting of alkyl chains in aqueous system is incredibly challenging. Herein, we architected a unique class of cationic bolaamphiphiles containing low molecular weight PEG and alkyl chains of different lengths. The bolaamphiphiles spontaneously form vesicles without external stimuli. These vesicles are unprecedented because PEG makes up the vesicle core, while the alkyl chains appear on the vesicles′ exterior. Hence, this particular design reverses the usual trend of self-assembly formation. The vesicle size increases with the increase in alkyl chain-length. To our great surprise, we obtained large micelles for longest alkyl-chain amphiphile, which in turn act as a gemini amphiphile. The shift from a particular bolaamphiphile to gemini amphiphile with the variation of alkyl chain is also unexplored. Therefore, this specific class of self-assembled structure would compound a new paradigm in molecular self-assembly and supramolecular chemistry.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere202400147
JournalChemPlusChem
Volume89
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Aug 2024
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Bolaamphiphile
  • PEG
  • gemini amphiphile
  • structure inversion
  • vesicles

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry

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