Role of the hydrophobic effect in the transfer of chirality from molecules to complex systems: from chiral surfactants to porphyrin/surfactant aggregates

The interaction between the achiral sulfonated porphyrin 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin, H 2TPPS 4 (4-), and two chiral cationic surfactants has been studied by optical absorption, fluorescence, and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopies. At surfactant concentrations above the critical micellar concentration (cmc) the porphyrin is included in the micellar aggregates, but it is CD silent. Below the cmc at a definite porphyrin/surfactant stoichiometry the formation of heteroaggregates with transfer of chirality to the porphyrin chromophore occurs. The preferred surfactant/porphyrin stoichiometry is 3:1, which suggests a structure driven by electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions between porphyrin and surfactant and dipolar and ionic interactions with the water solution. At surfactant concentrations above the cmc, depending on the protocol of preparation of the samples, the formation of the two kinds of aggregates can be observed, reversible for the simple surfactant micelles incorporating the porphyrin, but irreversible for the heteroaggregates.