EXPRESSION OF SUPRAMOLECULAR CHIRALITY IN AGGREGATES OF CHIRAL AMIDE-CONTAINING SURFACTANTS

The aggregation behaviour of a series of chiral amide-containing surfa ctants 1-5 is studied in order to assess the structural requirements f or the generation of supramolecular chirality. It is found that the pr esence of hydrogen-bonding moieties (i.e., amide groups) in the molecu les alone is not sufficient for the formation of chiral aggregates and that the expression of chirality at a higher level, for example in th e form of helical structures, strongly depends on the head-group organ isation of the surfactant molecules. By changing the intermolecular in teractions between the molecules, for example by pH variation or metal -ion complexation, this headgroup organisation can be tuned in such a way that supramolecular expression of chirality is induced or altered in the aggregates.