Characterization of micelles formed by sucrose 6-O-monoesters

In the present study we synthesized and purified several 6-O-sucrose monoesters by using classical synthetic methods and stereo-regioselective procedures. The compounds have different alkyl chain lengths, with the number of methylene units ranging between 7 and 17. For all the available compounds the physicochemical information concerning the formed micellar aggregates was evaluated by using fluorescent methodologies. Cmc for the series show a clear linear dependence with the length of alkyl chain. Structural properties of the aggregate, like cross-sectional area or aggregation numbers show clear dependence on the number of methylene units. For shorter esters, the cross-sectional area is constant, probably consequence of the size of sucrose head, whereas for the longer ones is dependent on the length of alkyl chain. Aggregation number is dependent of ester concentration for shorter compounds and independent for the longer ones. These results show for 6-O-sucrose esters with different length of alkyl chain that its properties depend on the balance of the size of alkyl chain and sucrose head. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.