Open AccessTemperature-Dependent Reversible Morphological Transformations in N-Oleoyl β-d -Galactopyranosylamine
Author(s) -
Mai Johnson,
Ahanjit Bhattacharya,
Roberto J. Brea,
Kira A. Podolsky,
Neal K. Devaraj
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the journal of physical chemistry. b
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.864
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1520-6106
pISSN - 1520-5207
DOI - 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c01410
Subject(s) - vesicle , amphiphile , circular dichroism , supramolecular chemistry , differential scanning calorimetry , crystallography , self assembly , chemistry , dynamic light scattering , materials science , molecule , amphiphilic molecule , polymer , nanotechnology , chemical physics , organic chemistry , nanoparticle , physics , copolymer , crystal structure , membrane , biochemistry , thermodynamics
Amphiphilic molecules self-assemble into supramolecular structures of various sizes and morphologies depending on their molecular packing and external factors. Transformations between various self-assembled morphologies are a matter of great fundamental interest. Recently, we reported the discovery of a novel class of single-chain galactopyranosylamide amphiphiles that self-assemble to form vesicles in water. Here, we describe how the vesicles composed of the amphiphile N -oleoyl β-d-galactopyranosylamine ( GOA ) undergo a morphological transition to fibers consisting of mainly flat sheet-like structures. Moreover, we show that this transformation is reversible in a temperature-dependent manner. We used several optical microscopy and electron microscopy techniques, circular dichroism spectroscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering, and differential scanning calorimetry, to fully investigate and characterize the morphological transformations of GOA and provide a structural basis for such phenomena. These studies provide significant molecular insight into the structural polymorphism of sugar-based amphiphiles and foresee future applications in rational design of self-assembled materials.