Tunable Hydrophobicity in DNA Micelles: Design, Synthesis, and Characterization of a New Family of DNA Amphiphiles

• DOI: 10.1002/chem.201001816
• Publication Date: 2010-09-28T12:25:15Z
• Authors: Milena Anaya; Minseok Kwak; Andrew J. Musser; Klaus Müllen; Andreas Herrmann
• Keywords: Nucleobase; Surface Modification; Hydrophobic effect

Abstract This work describes the synthesis and characterization of a new family DNA amphiphiles containing modified nucleobases. The hydrophobicity was imparted by introduction dodec‐1‐yne chain at 5‐position uracil base, which allowed precise simple tuning hydrophobic properties through solid‐phase synthesis. micelles formed from these sequences were characterized atomic force microscopy, dynamic light scattering, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. These experiments revealed role quantity location units in determining morphology stability micelles. effects hybridization on physical characteristics also studied; results showed potential for sequence‐specific noncovalent functionalization self‐assembled aggregates.