Langmuir, Vol.29, No.8, 2580-2587, 2013
A Fluorescent Organic Nanotube Assembled from Novel p-Phenylene Ethynylene-Based Dicationic Amphiphiles
Novel pi-extended conjugated amphiphiles composed of a and formed a tubular assembly in water. The evidence for the nanotubular comes hydrophilic section of two quaternary ammonium groups and p-phenylene ethynylene with adjustable alkyl chain hydrophobic section were prepared by a multistep synthesis. These dicationic amphiphiles showed good water solubility from direct optical and TEM observations. A strong pi-pi stacking interaction between neighboring molecules, as evidenced by the red-shift and self-quenching in fluorescence, is proposed for the self-assembly. At the same time, dehydration of the bromide led to strong counterion condensation in headgroups, which resulted in the small curvature structure of the nanotubes. A bilayer lamellar structural model for the organic nanotube is proposed, and a reasonable structural model based on the experimental XRD pattern, as well as cell constants, is proposed.