Hydrophobic intercalation

In order for the clay to intercalate and exfoliate into a broad array of polymers, the normally hydrophilic surface needs to be modified to a hydrophobic surface that more closely matches the polymers hydrophobicity. 

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Hydrophobic bonds, or, more accurately, interactions, form because nonpolar side chains of amino acids and other nonpolar solutes prefer to cluster in a nonpolar environment rather than to intercalate in a polar solvent such as water. The forming of hydrophobic bonds minimizes the interaction of nonpolar residues with water and is therefore highly favorable. Such clustering is entropically driven. The side chains of the amino acids in the interior or core of the protein structure are almost exclusively hydrophobic. Polar amino acids are almost never found in the interior of a protein, but the protein surface may consist of both polar and nonpolar residues. 

These contrasting results for partial azinomycin structures are confusing, but may be due to subtle differences in experimental design. However, the results of Coleman et al. on azinomycin B itself provide considerable evidence that its binding to DNA does not involve intercalation, and that the naphthoate moiety is involved in more general hydrophobic interactions. 

The [Co(phen)3]3+ complex is photoactive and a powerful oxidant in its excited state. The ion has no H-bonding groups and hence is considerably more hydrophobic1279 than hexaamine relatives. These properties have proven particularly useful. Aryl and alkyl substituted [Co(phen)3]3+ complexes have received a great deal of attention due to their ability to intercalate within the helical structure of DNA through a combination of electrostatic and hydrophobic forces. The chirality of the tris-chelate complex is crucial in determining the degree of association between the complex and... 

The specific structure of [(H20)5Ni(py)]2+ was observed in the complexes with the second-sphere coordination of calix[4]arene sulfonate.715 There are two different [(H20)5Ni(py)]2+ cations in the complex assembly. In one the hydrophobic pyridine ring is buried in the hydrophobic cavity of the calixarene with the depth of penetration into the calixarene cavity being 4.3 A (Figure 9). The second independent [(H20)5Ni(py)]2+ cation is intercalated into the calixarene bilayer. 

Clay minerals or phyllosilicates are lamellar natural and synthetic materials with high surface area, cation exchange and swelling properties, exfoliation ability, variable surface charge density and hydrophobic/hydrophilic character [85], They are good host structures for intercalation or adsorption of organic molecules and macromolecules, particularly proteins. On the basis of the natural adsorption of proteins by clay minerals and various clay complexes that occurs in soils, many authors have investigated the use of clay and clay-derived materials as matrices for the immobilization of enzymes, either for environmental chemistry purpose or in the chemical and material industries. 

LiNa Geng et al. realized similar experiments for the adsorption of trypsin [141] and hemoglobin [142] on y-zirconium phosphate (y-ZrP) and organo y-ZrP intercalated with butylammonium (BA) and tetrabutylammonium (TBA). Hb adsorbed in the galleries of BA-y-ZrP and TBA-y-ZrP mainly by hydrophobic... 

Thus complete intercalation of the aromatic PAH between the bases of DNA, in the manner described above for flat molecule such as proflavine, did not seem to be a likely mechanism for the carcinogenic action of these compounds. Since alkylation and intercalation are not simultaneously possible for steric reasons, and since one molecule is wedge-shaped and the other is flatter, it was considered more likely that the action of these compounds arose from their alkylating ability they could alkylate a base of DNA and then, since the bulky aromatic hydrophobic group would possibly not remain protruding into the hydrophilic environment, it is possible that the aromatic PAH group could then lie in one of the grooves of DNA. 

Hydrophobic stacking provides stability. Intercalating agents stack between bases. 

Intercalating agents are hydrophobic, planar structures that can fit between the DNA base pairs in the center of the DNA double helix. These compounds (ethidium bromide and actinomycin D are often-used examples) take up space in the helix and cause the helix to unwind a little bit by increasing the pitch. The pitch is a measure of the distance between successive base pairs. 

There is not a unique binding site for all sorts of xenobiotics, but the compounds are intercalated in such a way into the membrane that they interact most favourably with the membrane components and with least perturbation. Some compounds, such as hydrophobic and neutral molecules, are actually dissolved in the membrane interior, whereas others exhibit more specific interactions in the polar region of the membrane. In general, interaction of the xenobiotics with the head groups leads to a stronger perturbation of the bilayer than intercalation in the membrane core [170]. 

Fullerene showed antibacterial activity, which can be attributed to different interactions of C60 with biomolecules (Da Ros et al., 1996). In fact, there is a possibility to induce cell membrane disruption. The fullerene sphere seems not really adaptable to planar cellular surface, but for sure the hydrophobic surface can easily interact with membrane lipids and intercalate into them. However, it has been demonstrated that fullerene derivatives can inhibit bacterial growth by unpairing the respiratory chain. There is, first, a decrease of oxygen uptake at low fullerene derivative concentration, and then an increase of oxygen uptake, which is followed by an enhancement of hydrogen peroxide production. The higher concentration of C60 seems to produce an electron leak from the bacterial respiratory chain (Mashino et al., 2003). 

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