Self-Assembled Calixarene Derivative as a Supramolecular Polymer

A light scattering study shows that the HCl-promoted self-assembly of an amino-calix[5]­arene monomer precursor UC5-NH₂, bearing an ancillary ureido binding site, efficiently yields supramolecular polymers with a concentration-independent average mass. These polymers adopt a random-coil conformation and interact among themselves via the adhesive hard sphere pair potential. The findings also indicate the formation of polymer clusters, coexisting in low concentration with the polymers and resulting from the adhesive interpolymer interactions. Unlike polymers, the size of these clusters depends on the monomer concentration.