Organic Salts as Tectons for Self-assembly Processes in Solution

Abstract

The literature, covering the last decade, about the self-assembly processes of organic salts in conventional solvents was analyzed. In particular, data reported about imidazolium and ammonium salts have been considered. The analysis shows that these processes are highly determined by structural features of the salts. Indeed, besides the nature of the cationic head, features of the alkyl chain borne on the cation structure and its possible functionalization, as well as the nature of the anion play a pivotal role. These factors determine not only the nature of the solvent in which the process occurs but also the nature of the self-assembly mechanism. Consequently, the structure tunability of the salts affects the characteristics of the aggregates and, in turn, their possible applications. To this aim, some interesting applications in the biomedical field are reviewed and discussed.