State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 130022, Changchun, China.
Chem Soc Rev. 2017 Aug 14;46(16):5147-5172. doi: 10.1039/c7cs00165g.
Over the last few years, DNA-surfactant complexes have gained traction as unique and powerful materials for potential applications ranging from optoelectronics to biomedicine because they self-assemble with outstanding flexibility spanning packing modes from ordered lamellar, hexagonal and cubic structures to disordered isotropic phases. These materials consist of a DNA backbone from which the surfactants protrude as non-covalently bound side chains. Their formation is electrostatically driven and they form bulk films, lyotropic as well as thermotropic liquid crystals and hydrogels. This structural versatility and their easy-to-tune properties render them ideal candidates for assembly in bulk films, for example granting directional conductivity along the DNA backbone, for dye dispersion minimizing fluorescence quenching allowing applications in lasing and nonlinear optics or as electron blocking and hole transporting layers, such as in LEDs or photovoltaic cells, owing to their extraordinary dielectric properties. However, they do not only act as host materials but also function as a chromophore itself. They can be employed within electrochromic DNA-surfactant liquid crystal displays exhibiting remarkable absorptivity in the visible range whose volatility can be controlled by the external temperature. Concomitantly, applications in the biological field based on DNA-surfactant bulk films, liquid crystals and hydrogels are rendered possible by their excellent gene and drug delivery capabilities. Beyond the mere exploitation of their material properties, DNA-surfactant complexes proved outstandingly useful for synthetic chemistry purposes when employed as scaffolds for DNA-templated reactions, nucleic acid modifications or polymerizations. These promising examples are by far not exhaustive but foreshadow their potential applications in yet unexplored fields. Here, we will give an insight into the peculiarities and perspectives of each material and are confident to inspire future developments and applications employing this emerging substance class.
在过去的几年中，DNA-表面活性剂复合物因其在光电到生物医学等潜在应用中的独特而强大的材料特性而受到关注，因为它们可以自组装，具有跨越有序层状、六方和立方结构到无序各向同性相的出色的灵活的组装方式。这些材料由 DNA 主链组成，表面活性剂作为非共价结合的侧链从 DNA 主链中突出。它们的形成是静电驱动的，它们形成体相薄膜、溶致液晶和水凝胶。这种结构的多功能性及其易于调节的性质使它们成为在体相薄膜中进行组装的理想候选材料，例如沿 DNA 主链赋予定向导电性，用于染料分散以最小化荧光猝灭，从而允许在激光和非线性光学中应用，或者作为电子阻挡和空穴传输层，例如在 LED 或光伏电池中，由于其非凡的介电性能。然而，它们不仅作为主体材料，而且本身也作为生色团。它们可以在电致变色 DNA-表面活性剂液晶显示器中使用，在可见光范围内表现出显著的吸光度，其挥发性可以通过外部温度控制。同时，基于 DNA-表面活性剂体相薄膜、液晶和水凝胶的应用也成为可能，因为它们具有出色的基因和药物传递能力。除了仅仅利用它们的材料特性之外，DNA-表面活性剂复合物在用作 DNA 模板反应、核酸修饰或聚合的支架时，对于合成化学也具有非常出色的用途。这些有前途的例子远非详尽无遗，但预示着它们在尚未探索的领域中的潜在应用。在这里，我们将深入了解每种材料的特点和前景，并相信这将激发未来对这种新兴物质类别的发展和应用。
