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Updated: Apr 19, 2026

Self-assembling Morphologies Obtained from Helical Polycarbodiimide Copolymers and Their Triazole Derivatives
Published on: February 7, 2017
Self-assembly of channel type β-CD dimers induced by dodecane
Chengcheng Zhou1, Xinhao Cheng2, Qiang Zhao2
11] Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China [2] College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, 830046, China.
Abstract:
Cyclodextrins (CDs) can hardly self-assemble into well-defined structures. Here we report if they preassemble into channel type dimers assisted by dodecane, well-defined vesicles and bricks can be formed. Unlike the traditional self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules driven by hydrophobic effect, the self-assembly of the channel type dodecane@2β-CD supramolecular building block is predoninantly driven by hydrogen-bonds. More water molecules are found in the lyophilized vesicles than in the bricks, suggesting water molecules play an important role in the self-assembly of the channel-type dimers of β-CD. The amount of structural water in the self-assembly is closely related to the curvature of the final self-assembled structures. Our work reveals that the channel-type dimer of β-CD may represent a new sort of building block for advanced structures.
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