Self-assembly and stability of double rosette nanostructures with biological functionalities.

The syntheses of calix[4]arene dimelamines that are functionalized with alkyl, aminoalkyl, ureido, pyridyl, carbohydrate, amino acid and peptide functionalities, and their self-assembly with barbituric acid or cyanuric acid derivatives into well-defined hydrogen-bonded nanostructures are described. The thermodynamic stability of these hydrogen-bonded assemblies was studied by CD spectroscopy in mixtures of CHCl3 and MeOH. The stability of the assemblies depends on several steric factors and the polarity of the functional groups connected to the assembly components.