First vesicular self-assembly of 'binols' generated by a two-component aerobic oxidation reaction.

Generation of vesicular self-assemblies from natural and synthetic components has been in the frontiers of research in recent years for an improved understanding of the self-assembly process and also because of its prospective and realized applications in the areas of advanced materials, biotechnology and medicine. In the present work, we report the first example of the generation of vesicular self-assemblies during an aerobic coupling reaction. The two precursor 2-naphthol units, having hydrogen bond donor-acceptor groups with appended alkyl chains, yielded binol (2,2'-dihydroxy-1,1'-binaphthyl) derivatives by aerobic coupling that spontaneously self-assembled , yielding vesicular self-assemblies and gels.