title: Fusogenic metallosupramolecular brush vesicles.
abstract: The electrostatic combination of a cationic metallosupramolecular polyelectrolyte (Fe-MSP) with sulfonate-terminated polymers leads to the formation of metallosupramolecular brushes (MSBs). The resulting MSBs can self-assemble into vesicular structures in chloroform/methanol (v/v = 1:1) mixture solvents. The rigid-rod Fe-MSP chain has to bend for the formation of the vesicles, which accompanies the presence of a lateral tension and thus induces a spontaneous vesicle fusion with an hour-scale fusion time. For this much longer fusion process, the arrow-like protrusion, stalk-like intermediate, and hemifusion diaphragm are clearly observed by transmission electron microscopy. The complete fusion into larger vesicles significantly releases the lateral tension.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metals Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province, and College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, China.
authors.forename: Lipeng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Baochun
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Weisheng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Weifeng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bu
mesh_terms: D002725:Chloroform / Q000737:chemistry; D000432:Methanol / Q000737:chemistry; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry; D013451:Sulfonic Acids / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D011108:Polymers; D012997:Solvents; D013451:Sulfonic Acids; D002725:Chloroform; D000432:Methanol