Nano structures through self-assembly of protected hydrophobic amino acids: encapsulation of rhodamine B dye by proline-based nanovesicles

Kar, S., Drew, M. G. B. and Pramanik, A. (2012) Nano structures through self-assembly of protected hydrophobic amino acids: encapsulation of rhodamine B dye by proline-based nanovesicles. Journal of Materials Science, 47 (4). pp. 1825-1835. ISSN 1573-4803 doi: 10.1007/s10853-011-5969-7

Abstract/Summary

The development of novel molecules for the creation of nanometer structures with specific properties has been the current interest of this research. We have developed a set of molecules from hydrophobic omega- and alpha-amino acids by protecting the -NH(2) with Boc (t-butyloxycarbonyl) group and -CO(2)H with para-nitroanilide such as BocHN-Xx-CONH-(p-NO(2))center dot C(6)H(4), where Xx is gamma-aminobutyric acid (gamma-Abu), (L)-isoleucine, alpha-aminoisobutyric acid, proline, etc. These molecules generate various nanometer structures, such as nanofibrils, nanotubes and nanovesicles, in methanol/water through the self-assembly of bilayers in which the nitro benzene moieties are stacked in the middle and the Boc-protected amino acids parts are packed in the outer surface. The bilayers can be further stacked one over the other through hydrophobic interactions to form multilayer structure, which helps to generate different kinds of nanoscopic structures. The formation of the nanostructures has been facilitated through the participation of various noncovalent interactions, such as hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonding and aromatic p-stacking interactions. Fluorescence microscopy and UV studies reveal that the nanovesicles generated from pro-based molecule can encapsulate dye molecules which can be released by addition of acid (at pH 2). These single amino acid based molecules are both easy to synthesize and cost-effective and therefore offer novel scaffolds for the future design of nanoscale structures.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/30385
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy > Department of Chemistry
Publisher	Springer
Download/View statistics	View download statistics for this item