| Abstract | Rosette Nanotubes (RNTs) are formed by the self-assembly of a guanine-cytosine motif (G∧C), a hybrid of the DNA bases guanine and cytosine, to give a six membered macrocycle maintained by 18 H-bonds. In theory, any moiety covalently attached to the G∧C base can be expressed on the nanotubes surface. However we anticipate that the self-assembly and stability of these functionalised RNTs will also be governed by steric effects. Herein we describe the synthesis and the self assembly of the Twin Base Lysine (TBL-K) and its monobase (MBL-K). While TBL-K self-assembles readily in water and methanol to give nanotubular structures, MBL-K does not form nanotubes. Various techniques were used to characterize the RNTs and the factors, preventing self-assembly in the case of MBL-K, were investigated. |
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