Towards the Application of Supramolecular Self-Associating Amphiphiles as Next-Generation Delivery Vehicles

Herein, we present a series of supramolecular self-associating amphiphilic (SSA) salts and establish the potential for these molecular constructs to act as next-generation solution-state molecular delivery vehicles. We characterise the self-association of these SSAs, both alone and when co-formulated with a variety of drug(like) competitive guest species. Single crystal X-ray diffraction studies enable the observation of hydrogen-bonded self-association events in the solid state, whilst high resolution mass spectrometry confirms the presence of anionic SSA dimers in the gas-phase. These same anionic SSA dimeric species are also identified within a competitive organic solvent environment (DMSO-d₆/0.5% H₂O). However, extended self-associated aggregates are observed to form under aqueous conditions (H₂O/5.0% EtOH) in both the absence and presence of these competitive guest species. Finally, through the completion of these studies, we present a framework to support others in the characterisation of such systems.