Redox-responsive self-assembly of β-cyclodextrin and ferrocene double-headed amphiphilic molecules.

We present a redox-responsive self-assembly based on a unimolecular platform. Three double-headed amphiphilic molecules composed of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and ferrocene (Fc) each with an alkyl chain as a linker (βCD-C-Fc, m = 2, 6, and 10) were synthesized, and their self-assembly behaviors were investigated. The molecules self-assembled into polydisperse micelles that transformed into vesicles upon oxidization of the Fc moieties to Fc.