Supramolecular self-assembly of water-soluble nanoparticles based on amphiphilic p-tert-butylthiacalix[4]arenes with silver nitrate and fluorescein

New p-tert-butylthiacalix[4]arenes containing amide, ester, phthalimide and quaternary ammonium fragments in cone conformation were synthesized and characterized. The effective interaction of the p-tert-butylthiacalix[4]arenes with silver nitrate and fluorescein was shown by electron spectroscopy. As was shown by dynamic light scattering (DLS) all the macrocycles are able to form nanoscaled particles with silver nitrate. In the case of fluorescein, the formation of supramolecular assemblies was observed only for p-tert-butylthiacalix[4]arenes able of self-associating. It was shown that the interaction of nanoparticles based on the macrocycles and silver nitrate or fluorescein with bovine serum albumin (BSA) led to the formation of the particles of about 7 nm in size.