The self-assembly and aqueous solubilization of [60]fullerene with disaccharides

Solubilization of [60]fullerene in water by complexation with disaccharides in mixed homogeneous solvent system, is described for the first time. The complexation of extremely water-insoluble [60]fullerene dissolved in non-polar solvent toluene and extremely water-soluble disaccharides dissolved in polar solvent DMSO resulted in an unique self-assembled highly crystalline water-soluble [60]fullerene–disaccharide complex. The interaction between [60]fullerene and disaccharides was found to be non-covalent and were characterized by FTIR, UV–Vis, NMR, XRD, and thermogravimetric analysis. The particle size of the lactose–C60 complex was found to be monodisperse ∼60 nm from Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and matched with the size obtained from Static Light Scattering (SLS). Preliminary studies of radical scavenging on the most stable free radical 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DDPH) suggested that complex has potential biological applications.

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► Disaccharides were found to be self-assembled into regular structures with significant order.
► The disaccharides were found to include [60]fullerene.
► The complex formation is preferred and is water-soluble.
► The inclusion of [60]fullerene into self-assembled disaccharides has potential biomedical applications.