Supra-Amphiphiles for Controlled Self-Assembly and Disassembly - Molecular Self-Assembly: Advances and Applications - page 210

formation of supra-amphiphiles. For example, benzoic imine, a very
common type of DCB, has recently been used as a driving force to
fabricate supra-amphiphiles [24]. The toothbrush-type supra-
amphiphile consists of two components. As shown in Fig. 6.3, one
component is a double-hydrophilic block copolymer, methoxy-
poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG-

b-PLKC), in which the PLKC segment contains primary amine groups.
The other component is 4-(decyloxy)benzaldehyde (DBA) containing
an alkyl chain and a benzaldehyde end group. In physiological
conditions (pH 7.4), the alkyl chain in DBA can be attached to
the polylysine segment by benzoic-imine bonds formed between
the amine groups on the polylysine side-chain and benzaldehyde
groups in DBA, leading to the formation of a toothbrush-type supra-
amphiphile. When the pH is reduced to 6.5, however, the benzoic-
imine bond is broken and the PEG-b-PLKC-DBA supra-amphiphile

-block-poly(l-lysine hydrochloride)

114 200

Figure 6.3 Supra-amphiphiles based on DCB. Reproduced with

permission of Ref. [25]. Copyright 2011, Wiley-VCH Verlag
GmbH & Co. KGaA.