title: Synthesis and Crystallization Behavior of Surfactants with Hexamolybdate as the Polar Headgroup.
abstract: Alkyl chains with different lengths were covalently grafted onto the surface of hexamolybdate through the postfunctionalization protocol of polyoxometalates. The obtained compounds represent typical structures of the so-called giant surfactants. Unexpectedly, those surfactants with hexamolybdates as polar headgroups are able to crystallize, while single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that the crystallization behavior of the surfactants is highly dependent on the length of the alkyl chains. For surfactants with comparatively short alkyl chains (C6 and C10), the alkyl chains prefer to interact with tetrabutylammonium, the countercation of hexamolybdate. However, the alkyl chains tend to pack with each other to form a domain of alkyl chains in the surfactant with a longer alkyl chain (C18). The possible mechanism is that a long alkyl chain cannot be fully compatible with the short chain (C4) of tetrabutylammonium.
authors.affiliation: †Beijing Union University, Beijing 100101, P. R. China.|‡Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zheyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Haocheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: §Chemical and Engineering Materials Division, Neutron Sciences Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States.
authors.forename: Panchao
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China.|⊥State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Peking University, Beijing 100191, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yongge
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei