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Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Formation of Ordered Biomolecular Structures by the Self-assembly of Short Peptides
Published on: November 21, 2013
Self-assembly of folded m-phenylene ethynylene oligomers into helical columns
L Brunsveld1, E W Meijer, R B Prince
1Department of Chemistry and Materials Science & Engineering, The University of Illinois, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
Abstract:
Circular dichroism spectroscopy has been used to study the self-assembly of two series of m-phenylene ethynylene oligomers in highly polar solvents. The helical conformation of shorter oligomer lengths was found to be stabilized in aqueous acetonitrile solutions, while longer oligomers began to interact intermolecularly. The intermolecular aggregation of the oligomers in aqueous solutions revealed a chain length dependent association that required the presence of a stable helical conformation. Evidence for intermolecular interactions is provided by Sergeants and Soldiers experiments in which the twist sense bias of a chiral oligomer is transferred to an achiral oligomer.
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