Chemistry. 2000 Jun 16;6(12):2173-83. doi: 10.1002/1521-3765(20000616)6:12<2173::aid-chem2173>3.0.co;2-e.

Crystalline self-assembly into monolayers of folded oligomers at the air-water interface.

Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)

Lederer, Godt, Howes, Kjaer, Als-Nielsen, Lahav, Wegner, Leiserowitz, Weissbuch

PMID: 10926223 DOI: 10.1002/1521-3765(20000616)6:12<2173::aid-chem2173>3.0.co;2-e

Abstract

Insertion of the 1,3-bis(ethynylene)benzene unit as a rigid spacer into a linear alkyl chain, thus separating the two resulting stems by 9 A. induces chain folding at the air-water interface. These folded molecules self-assemble into crystalline monolayers at this interface, with the plane of the folding unit almost perpendicular to the water surface, as determined by synchrotron grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction. Three distinct molecular shapes, of the types U, inverted U, and M, were obtained in the two-dimensional crystalline state, depending upon the number of spacer units, and the number and position of the hydrophilic groups in the molecule. The molecules form ribbons with a higher crystal coherence in the direction of stacking between the molecular ribbons, and a lower coherence along the ribbon direction. A similar molecule, but with a spacer unit that imposes a 5 A separation between alkyl chains, yields the conventional herringbone arrangement.

Publication Types

• Journal Article