Probing into the Supramolecular Driving Force of an Amphiphilic β-Cyclodextrin Dimer in Various Solvents: Host–Guest Recognition or Hydrophilic–Hydrophobic Interaction?

Tuning of the morphology and size of supramolecular self-assemblies is of theoretical and practical significance. To date, supramolecular driving forces in different solvents remain unclear. In this study, we first synthesized an amphiphilic β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) dimer that consists of one hydrophobic ibuprofen (Ibu) and two hydrophilic β-CD moieties (i.e., Ibu-CD2). Ibu-CD2 possesses double supramolecular driving forces, namely, the host–guest recognition and hydrophilic–hydrophobic interaction. The host–guest interaction of Ibu-CD2 induced the formation of branched supramolecular polymers (SPs) in pure water, whereas the hydrophilic–hydrophobic interaction generated spherical or irregular micelles in water/organic mixtures. The SP size increased with the increase in Ibu-CD2 concentration in pure water. By contrast, the size of micelles decreased with the increase in volume ratio of water in mixtures.