Metallosurfactant aggregates: Structures, properties, and potentials for multifarious applications

Metallosurfactants offer important scientific and technological advances due to their novel interfacial properties. As a special class of structures formed by the integration of metal ions into amphiphilic surfactant molecules, these metal-based amphiphilic molecules possess both organometallic and surface chemistries. This review critically examines the structural transitions of metallosurfactants from micelle to vesicle upon metal coordination. The properties of a metallosurfactant can be changed by tuning the coordination between the metal ions and surfactants. The self-assembled behavior of surfactants can be controlled by selecting transition-metal ions that enhance their catalytic efficiency in environmental applications by applying a hydrogen evolution reaction or oxygen evolution reaction. We present the different scattering techniques available to examine the properties of metallosurfactants (e.g., size, shape, structure, and aggregation behavior). The utility of metallosurfactants in catalysis, the synthesis of nanoparticles, and biomedical applications (involving diagnostics and therapeutics) is also explored.

Assessment of the aggregation and adsorption behavior of newly synthesized tetradecylpyridinium-based metallosurfactants and their interaction with bovine serum albumin

Tetradecylpyridinium (TP) based metallosurfactants, TP₂[MCl₄] (M = Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn): synthesis, aggregation behavior and interaction with bovine serum albumin.

Cholesterol-induced physicochemical changes in dodecylamine-based metallosomes: drug entrapping ability and interactions with biological molecules

Multivesicular metallosomes have been synthesized from metal functionalized amphiphiles. They have been thoroughly characterized and explored for their entrapment efficiency towards drug and other biomolecules.

Synthesis, Properties, and Aggregation Behavior of Tetrasiloxane-Based Anionic Surfactants

Three silicone surfactants, 3-tris(trimethylsiloxy)silylpropyl sulfonate with different alkaline counterions (lithium, sodium, and potassium), were synthesized for the first time. Their chemical structures were confirmed by FT-IR spectra, ¹H NMR, and ESI-MS, and their behaviors in aqueous solutions were investigated by surface tensiometry, electrical conductivity, dynamic light scattering, and different transmission electron microscopy techniques. These anionic silicone surfactants exhibited remarkable surface activity and could reduce the surface tension of water to as low as 19.8 mN/m at the critical aggregate concentration (CAC). The adsorption and aggregation behaviors of these surfactants were assessed by determining the adsorption efficiency, minimum average area per surfactant molecule, and thermodynamic parameters. The cryo-TEM results verified that these molecules could form vesicles in water above the CAC. Moreover, the lowest surface tension, the smallest CAC value, and the largest aggregate size have been reached with potassium counterions. Thus, the different behavior of these surfactants in water can be explained by the different sizes of the hydrated ions.

Turning on the red phosphorescence of a [Ru(tpy)(bpy)(Cl)]Cl complex by amide substitution: self-aggregation, toxicity, and cellular localization of an emissive ruthenium-based amphiphile

Dodecylamide functionalization of [Ru(tpy)(bpy)Cl]Cl led to an emissive, self-assembling, and cytotoxic complex targeting membranes.

Trends in small angle neutron scattering of actinide–trialkyl phosphate complexes: a molecular insight into third phase formation

SANS as a molecular probe was used to investigate and quantify the aggregation tendency of metal complexes, facilitating the prediction of third phase formation.