Nanosized Supramolecular Systems: From Colloidal Surfactants to Amphiphilic Macrocycles and Superamphiphiles.

This review is devoted to self-organizing systems based on amphiphilic compounds of different types, i.e., open-chain and macrocyclic ones. Conventional colloidal surfactants have been considered both in the individual form and in the presence of modifiers, including electrolytes and cosurfactants. Special attention has been focused on the role of structural factors, in particular, an analysis has been performed for the cases of the most pronounced influence of surfactant structure (the nature of head groups and counterions, the passage to dicationic surfactants, and the occurrence of calix[4]arene cores) on the aggregation characteristics, morphological behavior, and functional activity of the systems. Macrocyclic amphiphiles are typical objects of supramolecular chemistry. The final part of the review presents the comparison between two types of the systems: (1) amphiphilic calixarenes (covalent functionalization of macrocycles with alkyl fragments) and (2) calixarene–surfactant binary composites (noncovalent modification of the macrocyclic platform). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]