On/Off Micelles for Organic Synthesis

Micelles are all around us from soap and surfactants to biological systems. In recent years, micelles have attracted increasing interest e.g. in organic synthesis in water. Question: Can we design and synthesize compounds that forms micelles on command, i.e. which can be turned on and off, and thereby allow easy recovery and new application for micelles. The proposed system is based on a glucoside scaffold, which can change conformation from latent to active upon interaction with metal ions. With full control over micelle formation and disassembly, one can turn on the micelle when needed in e.g. and organic synthesis in water and when the reaction is done, turn it off and recover the “monomer” and hence reduce waste and allow recycling.