Entropically driven self-assembly of amphiphilic dyes in water, dictated by hydration as well as orientation of oligo-ethylene glycol chains is reported.

Depending on the connectivity of solubilizing oligoethylene glycol (OEG) side chains to the π‐cores of amphiphilic naphthalene and perylene bisimide dyes, self‐assembly in water occurs either upon heating or cooling. Herein, we show that this effect originates from differences in the enwrapping capability of the π‐cores by the OEG chains. Rylene bisimides bearing phenyl substituents with three OEG chains attached directly to the hydrophobic π‐cores are strongly sequestered by the OEG chains. These molecules self‐assemble at elevated temperatures in an entropy‐driven process according to temperature‐ and concentration‐dependent UV/Vis spectroscopy and calorimetric dilution studies. In contrast, for rylene bisimides in which phenyl substituents with three OEG chains are attached via a methylene spacer, leading to much weaker sequestration, self‐assembly originates upon cooling in an enthalpy‐driven process. Our explanation for this controversial behavior is that the aggregation in the latter case is dictated by the release of “high energy water” from the hydrophobic π‐surfaces as well as dispersion interactions between the π‐scaffolds which drive the self‐assembly in an enthalpically driven process. In contrast, for the former case we suggest that in addition to the conventional explanation of a dehydration of hydrogen‐bonded water molecules from OEG units it is in particular the increase in conformational entropy of back‐folded OEG side chains upon aggregation that provides the pronounced gain in entropy that drives the aggregation process. Thus, our studies revealed that a subtle change in the attachment of solubilizing substituents can switch the thermodynamic signature for the self‐assembly of amphiphilic dyes in water from enthalpy‐ to entropy‐driven.

The kinetics of the reaction between iron(II) and vanadium(V) have been investigated in the pH range 2.6–4.2 where decavanadates and VO2+ coexist in equilibrium. Under these conditions, the observed kinetic pattern is radically different from the one reported for the reaction in strong acid medium. In the pH range employed, the reaction rate is not appreciably altered by variation in the stoichiometric vanadium(V) concentration due to the operation of the equilibrium between the reactive species, VO2+, and the unreactive species, decavanadates. The reaction, however, obeys first‐order kinetics with respect to Fe(II). In the presence of salicylic acid, which imparts considerable reactivity to iron(II) by reducing the reduction potential of iron(III)/iron(II) couple by forming a stronger complex with iron(III) than iron(II), the kinetic results provide evidence for the participation of decavanadates in the electron transfer. The mechanism under both conditions is discussed. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 32: 535–541, 2000