Sugar-Based Gemini Surfactant with a Vesicle-to-Micelle Transition at Acidic pH and a Reversible Vesicle Flocculation near Neutral pH
摘要:
A sugar-based (reduced glucose) gemini surfactant forms vesicles in dilute aqueous solution near neutral pH. At lower pH, there is a vesicle-to-micelle transition within a narrow pH region (pH 6.0-5.6). The vesicles are transformed into large cylindrical micelles that in turn are transformed into small globular micelles at even lower pH. In the vesicular pH region, the vesicles are positively charged at pH < 7 and exhibit a good colloidal stability. However, close to pH 7, the vesicles become unstable and rapidly flocculate and eventually sediment out from the solution. We find that the flocculation correlates with low vesicle zeta-potentials and the behavior is thus well predicted by the classical DLVO theory of colloidal stability. Surprisingly, we find that the vesicles are easily redispersed by increasing the pH to above pH 7.5. We show that this is due to a vesicle surface charge reversal resulting in negatively charged vesicles at pH > 7.1. Adsorption, or binding, of hydroxide ions to the vesicular surface is likely the cause for the charge reversal, and a hydroxide ion binding constant is calculated using a Poisson-Boltzmann model.
Synthesis of nonionic reduced-sugar based bola amphiphiles and gemini surfactants with an α,ω-diamino-(oxa)alkyl spacer
作者:Anno Wagenaar、Jan B.F.N. Engberts
DOI:10.1016/j.tet.2007.08.023
日期:2007.10
Reduced-sugar based gemini surfactants with an alpha,omega-diamino-(oxa) alkyl spacer exhibit a rich pH-dependent aggregation behavior and are efficient DNA carriers in gene transfection. Herein, we describe an improved synthetic procedure for these amphiphiles. First, a series of novel nonionic bolaform amphiphiles with identical headgroups and alpha,omega-diamino-(oxa) alkyl spacers were synthesized by reductive aminations involving alpha,omega-diaminoalkanes and the appropriate sugars or aldehydes. The bolaform compounds were used as starting materials for the synthesis of the corresponding reduced-sugar based gemini surfactants in a reductive alkylation reaction employing a polymer-bound cyanoborohydride. A series of new gemini surfactants have been synthesized and characterized. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.