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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Phase Behavior of Charged Vesicles Under Symmetric and Asymmetric Solution Conditions Monitored with Fluorescence Microscopy
Published on: October 24, 2017
pH-dependent chiral vesicles from enantiomeric sodium 2,3-bis(decyloxy) succinate in aqueous solution
B Vijai Shankar1, Archita Patnaik
1Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India.
Abstract:
Enantiomeric, twin-tailed, twin-chiral, sodium (2R,3R)-(+)-bis(decyloxy)succinate and sodium (2S,3S)-(-)-bis(decyloxy)succinate have been synthesized and characterized. Surface tension, conductivity, and steady-state fluorescence spectroscopic measurements confirmed the presence of two aggregation concentrations, namely, the critical micellar concentration (CMC) and the critical vesicle concentration (CVC). The compounds behaved as true surfactants, with a CMC of 0.05 mM, and formed vesicles spontaneously in aqueous solution at a CVC of 0.14 mM. The compounds formed myelin figures in contact experiments, suggesting the formation of bilayers in aqueous solution culminating into individual vesicles. The vesicles were of 500-800 nm size and formed egg shells, porous spheres, and multivesicular vesicles, confirmed from transmission electron microscopy and optical microscopic techniques. The vesicles were found to be pH sensitive, were stable in the pH range 6-8, and formed the insoluble diacid at acidic pH due to protonation of the carboxylate head groups.
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