Supramolecular Chiral Assembly of Dendritic Amphiphiles in Aqueous Media

Dendritic amphiphiles are a promising class of topological blocks for self-assembly to construct chiral supramolecular aggregates in aqueous media. Their unique dendritic geometry, structure variability and multivalence can mediate the assemblies with versatile morphologies and functions. The bulky dendritic moieties also enable the appropriate association-repulsion balance to control supramolecular growth, and simultaneously shield the assemblies with enhanced stabilities. Moreover, the crowded packing of dendritic segments facilitates the efficient chirality transfer from molecular level to supramolecular level, to achieve chirality amplification or enhancement. Dendritic moieties also provide chances to stabilize the assemblies in aqueous media through shielding and cooperative effects. The dendritic assemblies can be intriguingly made responsive to external stimuli including temperature, light, solvents or guests to switch their nanostructures or supramolecular chirality. Various dendritic amphiphiles bearing peptide or aromatic motifs have been reported in supramolecular chiral assembly, and their functional applications investigated. This review summarizes the significant progresses with a particular focus on the dendritic structural effects on supramolecular chiral assembly and the stimuli-responsiveness in aqueous media.