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Updated: May 16, 2026

Synthesis of Monocyte-targeting Peptide Amphiphile Micelles for Imaging of Atherosclerosis
Published on: November 17, 2017
Wormlike micelle formation by acylglutamic acid with alkylamines
Kenichi Sakai1, Kazuyuki Nomura, Rekha Goswami Shrestha
1Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry in Faculty of Science and Technology and Research Institute for Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda, Chiba 278-8510, Japan. k-sakai@rs.noda.tus.ac.jp
Abstract:
Rheological properties of alkyl dicarboxylic acid-alkylamine complex systems have been characterized. The complex materials employed in this study consist of an amino acid-based surfactant (dodecanoylglutamic acid, C12Glu) and a tertiary alkylamine (dodecyldimethylamine, C12DMA) or a secondary alkylamine (dodecylmethylamine, C12MA). (1)H NMR and mass spectroscopic data have suggested that C12Glu forms a stoichiometric 1:1 complex with C12DMA and C12MA. Rheological measurements have suggested that the complex systems yield viscoelastic wormlike micellar solutions and the rheological behavior is strongly dependent on the aqueous solution pH. This pH-dependent behavior results from the structural transformation of the wormlike micelles to occur in the narrow pH range 5.5-6.2 (in the case of C12Glu-C12DMA system); i.e., positive curved aggregates such as spherical or rodlike micelles tend to be formed at high pH values. Our current study offers a unique way to obtain viscoelastic wormlike micellar solutions by means of alkyl dicarboxylic acid-alkylamine complex as gemini-like amphiphiles.
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