In
this work, 1,8-naphthalimide (NMI)-conjugated three hybrid dipeptides
constituted of a β-amino acid and an α-amino acid have
been designed, synthesized, and purified. Here, in the design, the
chirality of the α-amino acid was varied to study the effect
of molecular chirality on the supramolecular assembly. Self-assembly
and gelation of three NMI conjugates were studied in mixed solvent
systems [water and dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO)]. Interestingly, chiral
NMI derivatives [NMI-βAla-
l
Val-OMe (NLV)
and NMI-βAla-
d
Val-OMe (NDV)] formed self-supported
gels, while the achiral NMI derivative [NMI-βAla-Aib-OMe, (NAA)]
failed to form any kind of gel at 1 mM concentration and in a mixed
solvent (70% water in DMSO medium). Self-assembly processes were thoroughly
investigated using UV–vis spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance
(NMR), fluorescence, and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. A J-type
molecular assembly was observed in the mixed solvent system. The CD
study indicated the formation of chiral assembled structures for NLV
and NDV, which were mirror images of one another, and the self-assembled
state by NAA was CD-silent. The nanoscale morphology of the three
derivatives was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
In the case of NLV and NDV, left- and right-handed fibrilar morphologies
were observed, respectively. In contrast, a flake-like morphology
was noticed for NAA. The DFT study indicated that the chirality of
the α-amino acid influenced the orientation of π–π
stacking interactions of naphthalimide units in the self-assembled
structure that in turn regulated the helicity. This is a unique work
where molecular chirality controls the nanoscale assembly as well
as the macroscopic self-assembled state.