Preparation and application of tubular assemblies based on amphiphilic tetramethoxyresorcinarenes

Abstract

The amphiphilic tetramethoxyresorcinarene 4 was synthesized with hydrophobic n-undecanyl groups at the lower rim and hydrophilic 2-aminoethylamido functional groups at the upper rim. Its self-assembling ability was investigated by dissolving it in acid solutions and aging for the desired number of weeks. At a concentration of no less than 6.0 × 10⁻⁵ M, 4 generated microtubes, which were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The influence of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic chain lengths were also studied by synthesizing tetramethoxyresorcinarenes 5–7 and acylhydrazine tetramethoxyresorcinarenes 3, respectively. Moreover, an Ag nanoparticle coated microtube hybrid was fabricated by immersing self-assembled microtubes 4 as the template in silver nitrate solutions.