Self-assembled molecules gemini surfactants

Hait, S.K. Moulik, S.P. Gemini surfactants a distinct class of self-assembling molecules. Curr. Sci. 2002,52(9), 1101-1111. 

The concept of surfactant self-assembly is revisited in the organic laboratory. A manuscript detailing this experiment has been submitted elsewhere (55), and is briefly sununarized here. In a single laboratory session, students synthesize and investigate the colloidal properties of a gemini surfactant - an amphiphiUc molecule with two non-polar tails and two polar heads eoimected by a spacer (see Figure 2a) (34, 55). The synthesis (a double Menshutkin reaction) and purification are straightforward and reproducible by oi nie lab students. 

In this chapter, we have surveyed a wide range of chiral molecules that self-assemble into helical structures. The molecules include aldonamides, cere-brosides, amino acid amphiphiles, peptides, phospholipids, gemini surfactants, and biological and synthetic biles. In all of these systems, researchers observe helical ribbons and tubules, often with helical markings. In certain cases, researchers also observe twisted ribbons, which are variations on helical ribbons with Gaussian rather than cylindrical curvature. These structures have a large-scale helicity which manifests the chirality of the constituent molecules. 

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