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Liquid-liquid phase separation and self-assembly of a lysine derivative Fmoc-L-lysine in water-DMSO mixtures

Polymer Journal volume 53, pages 1413–1424 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

The self-assembly process of a lysine derivative (9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl-l-lysine; Fmoc-Lys) in water-DMSO mixtures was investigated by time-resolved static and dynamic light scattering (SLS and DLS), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), optical microscopy (OM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SLS, DLS, and SAXS indicated liquid–liquid phase separation caused by the addition of water to the DMSO solution of Fmoc-Lys and the formation of spherical droplets of the phase-separating concentrated phase with concentrations as high as 0.6 g/cm3. However, in the colloidal phase-separating solution, the concentrated phase droplets did not grow through the Ostwald ripening process, but OM and SEM implied that a crystal phase of Fmoc-Lys appeared after a long lag phase in the phase-separating solution. This crystallization process for Fmoc-Lys after liquid–liquid phase separation in DMSO-water mixtures has been reproduced semiquantitatively by lattice theory.

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Acknowledgements

The synchrotron radiation experiments were performed at BL40B2 in SPring-8 with the approval of the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) (Proposal No. 2019B1375). We thank Dr. K. Terao at Osaka University for helping with the SAXS measurements and Prof. Y. Goto at Osaka University for valuable comments.

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  1. Department of Macromolecular Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan

    Nikesh Narang & Takahiro Sato

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Correspondence to Takahiro Sato.

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Narang, N., Sato, T. Liquid-liquid phase separation and self-assembly of a lysine derivative Fmoc-L-lysine in water-DMSO mixtures. Polym J 53, 1413–1424 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-021-00538-3

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