Supra-Amphiphiles for Controlled Self-Assembly and Disassembly - Molecular Self-Assembly: Advances and Applications - page 208

Figure 6.1 Molecular engineering of supra-amphiphiles. Reproduced

with permission of Ref. [4]. Copyright 2011, Royal Society of
Chemistry.

The molecular engineering of supra-amphiphiles can be divided
into two parts. One part is architectural engineering of supra-
amphiphiles. Using rational design of building blocks and tuning
of different noncovalent interactions, we can construct supra-
amphiphiles with various architectures. The other part is functionality
engineering of supra-amphiphiles. Functional groups, such as
stimuli-responsive moieties, catalytic moieties, and so forth, can be
introduced to the supra-amphiphiles by noncovalent interactions. If
the formation of supra-amphiphiles is regarded as a first-order self-
assembly, it is probable that supra-amphiphiles can function as the
building blocks for constructing hierarchically ordered assemblies,
in which the organization of the supra-amphiphiles can be classified
as second-order self-assembly. The advance of supra-amphiphiles
will not only enrich the family of conventional amphiphiles that are
formed based on the covalent bonds but also provide a new bridge
between the colloidal and supramolecular sciences. In addition,
functional groups can be introduced into the supra-amphiphiles,
thus providing a new avenue to assemble nanostructured soft
materials with well-defined nanostructures.