Nonamphiphilic assembly in water: polymorphic nature, thread structure, and thermodynamic incompatibility

L Wu, J Lal, KA Simon, EA Burton…

Index: Wu, Lei; Lal, Jyotsana; Simon, Karen A.; Burton, Erik A.; Luk, Yan-Yeung Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2009 , vol. 131, p. 7430 - 7443

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Citation Number: 44

Abstract

Self-assembly of large quantities of entirely water-soluble molecules is entropically challenging. In this work, we describe the design and synthesis of water-soluble aromatic (dichromonyl) molecules that can form nonamphiphilic assemblies and the so-called chromonic liquid crystal phase in water. We discover a new molecule, 5′ DSCG-diviol, that exhibits a large birefringent phase, and we show that the formation of this unique class of ...