Self‐Assembled Vesicles from an Amphiphilic <i>ortho</i>‐Phenylene Ethynylene Macrocycle

Abstract

A triangular macrocycle based on ortho-phenylene ethynylene with polar ethylene oxide side chains spontaneously self-assembles into vesicles upon exposure of solutions in chloroform to water. These self-assembled structures were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The self-assembly of disklike macrocycles into spherical vesicles represents a new molecular architecture for vesicle formation.