Aggregation behavior of tetraphenylporphyrin in aqueous surfactant solutions: Chiral premicellar J-aggregate formation

Abstract

Porphyrin-surfactant interactions in aqueous solutions are known to result in the selfassembly of various supramolecular structures, including pigment-surfactant complexes, J- and H-aggregates, and solubilized dye species. Detailed studies on the mechanisms of the intermolecular interactions governing the above self-assembly processes allow to predict the aggregation state and hence, the photophysical properties of the dye-surfactant assemblies in order to perform a direct synthesis of the desired porphyrin-based nanostructures at the appropriate experimental conditions. This paper describes a novel example of the surfactant-induced J-aggregate formation from the diprotonated hydrophobic tetraphenylporphyrin species in submicellar aqueous anionic surfactant solutions. The above assemblies are characterized by a rod-like morphology and possess supramolecular chirality according to the CD measurements.