Aqueous self-assembly and physicochemical properties of 1,2-dilauroyl-rac-glycero-3-(Nα-acetyl-l-arginine)

Diacylglycerol-amino acid conjugates constitute a novel class of biocompatible surfactants being of great interest both from academic and industrial viewpoints. In this paper, the aqueous phase behaviour of 1,2-di-lauroyl-rac-glycero-3-(Nα-acetyl-l-arginine) (indicated as 1212RAc) is investigated by a number of experimental approaches.The phase diagram is dominated by three monophasic regions; an isotropic solution, and two lamellar phases separated by a birefringent biphasic region. At very low concentrations (C < 1.5 wt.% 1212RAc), the isotropic solution (Iso) is mainly composed of monodispersed vesicles (Rh ≈ 300 nm). Within the concentration interval 2 wt.%