Controlled Supramolecular Assemblies of Chiral Cyclometalated Gold (III) Amphiphiles in Aqueous Media

Graphical The first chiral gold (III) amphiphile enables chiral supramolecular assembly in aqueous media, confirmed by circular dichroic and electron microscopy, with potential supramolecular helicity enhancement controlled by packing parameters of the amphiphilic design. The resulting chiral supramolecular assembly shows good cytocompatibility. Gold (III) cyclometalated based amphiphiles in aqueous media have been revealed with excellent supramolecular transformations to external stimuli to open new pathways for soft functional material fabrications. Herein, we report a new chiral cyclometalated gold (III) amphiphile ( GA) assembling into lamellar nanostructures in aqueous media confirmed with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Counterion exchange with D -, L -, or racemic-camphorsulfonates features the significant supramolecular helicity enhancements, enabling transformations of GA from lamellar structure to vesicles and to nanotubes with multi-equivalents of counterion. The limited cytotoxicity of GA in aqueous media exhibits good biocompatibility.