Preparation and Properties of Vesicles Made of Nonpolar/Polar/Nonpolar Fullerene Amphiphiles

Twenty potassium complexes of penta-[(4-substituted)phenyl][60]fullerene anions were synthesized and examined for their ability to form bilayer vesicles in water. The 4-substituents include alkyl groups ranging from methyl to icosanyl groups and perfluoromethyl, perfluorobutyl, and perfluorooctyl groups. The overall structure of the amphiphiles can be described as a nonpolar/polar/nonpolar (n-p-n') motif as opposed to the usual polar/nonpolar motif of lipid amphiphiles. Despite the hydrophobicity of the fullerene moiety (n-part) and alkyl/perfluoroalkyl chains (n'-part), all compounds except for the one with perfluoromethyl groups were soluble in water because of the centrally located fullerene cyclopentadienide (p-part) and spontaneously formed a vesicle of 25- to 60-nm diameter with a narrow unimodal size distribution. The vesicles are stable upon heating to 90 degrees C or standing over one year in air, as well as on a solid substrate in air or in vacuum, maintaining their spherical form. The vesicle membrane consists of an interdigitated bilayer of the amphiphile molecules, in which the fullerene n-part is inside and the n'-side is exposed to water. These vesicles, in particular the one bearing icosanyl chains, exhibit the smallest water permeability coefficient ever found for a self-assembled membrane in water.