Fully deuterated magnetically oriented system based on fatty acid direct hexagonal phases.
There is strong demand in the field of NMR for simple oriented lipid supramolecular assemblies, the constituents of which can be fully deuterated, for specifically studying the structure of host protonated molecules (e.g., peptides, proteins...) in a lipid environment. Also, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) in fully deuterated oriented systems is powerful for gaining information on protonated host molecules in a lipid environment by using the contrast proton/deuterium method. Here we report on a very simple system made of fatty acids (dodecanoic and tetradecanoic) and ethanolamine in water. All components of this system can be obtained commercially as perdeuterated. Depending on the molar ratio and the concentration, the system self-assembles at room temperature into a direct hexagonal phase that is oriented by moderate magnetic fields of a few tesla. The orientation occurs within the magnetic field upon cooling the system from its higher-temperature isotropic phase: the lipid cylinders of the hexagonal phase become oriented parallel to the field. This is shown by solid-state NMR using either perdeuterated fatty acids or ethanolamine. This system bears strong interest for studying host protonated molecules but also in materials chemistry for building oriented solid materials.
UMR 1332, Biologie et Pathologie du Fruit, INRA, Centre de Bordeaux, 33883 Villenave d'Ornon, France.
Jean-Paul
JP
Douliez
Laurence
L
Navailles
Erick J
EJ
Dufourc
Frédéric
F
Nallet
D019856:Ethanolamine / Q000737:chemistry; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*
D005227:Fatty Acids; D019856:Ethanolamine