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Updated: Jun 22, 2025

Controlling the Size, Shape and Stability of Supramolecular Polymers in Water
Published on: August 2, 2012
Cooling rate uncovers epimer-dependent supramolecular organization of carbohydrate amphiphiles
Vânia I B Castro1,2, Yuting Gao1,2,3, Alexandra Brito1,2
13B's Research Group, I3Bs - Research Institute on Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, AvePark, Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, Zona Industrial da Gandra, 4805-017 Barco, Guimarães, Portugal. rpires@i3bs.uminho.pt.
Abstract:
We show distinct CH-π interactions and assembly pathways for the amphiphile N-(fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl)-galactosamine and its epimer N-(fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl)-glucosamine. These differences result in the formation of supramolecular nanofibrous systems with opposite chirality. Our results showcase the importance of the carbohydrates structural diversity for their specific biointeractions and the opportunity that their ample interactome offers for synthesis of versatile and tunable supramolecular (bio) materials.
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