Nanofibers molecular pairing

By applying the principle of nucleic acid hybridization, a hydrogen-bond-mediated bilayer membrane can be designed from a pair of complementary molecular subunits 1, 2 (Figs. 4 and 5). When amphiphilic hydrogen bond pairs of alkylated chiral melamine (hydrophobic subunit 1) and quaternary ammonium - derivatized azobenzene cyanuric acid (hydrophilic subunit 2) were mixed in water, helical nanofibers (thicknesses 14-28 nm, widths 30-50 nm, pitches 180-430 nm) were immediately formed (Fig. 5, association constant 1.13 x 10 [37]. These helical nanofibers are typical of... 

Nanofibers are also formed in water by amphiphilic ion pairs. Hue et al. showed formation of helical nanofibers and hydrogels from Gemini surfactants 7 with L-tartrate and o-tartrate counterions (Fig. 6) [41]. These chiral structures are originating from tartrate molecules, and their molecular orientation and hydrogen bonding at the membrane surface are responsible the morphology. The ion pairs of dialkyldimethylammonium (8, n = 12, 14) and guanosine 5 -monophosphate (GMP), adenosine 5 -monophosphate (AMP) were recently shown to form nano to micrometric left-handed helices in water [42],... 

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