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CALL FOR PAPERS

"Multicompartment Micelles: Higher Order Self-Assembly of Block Copolymers"
A POLY symposium at the Fall 2006 ACS National Meeting in San Francisco

Although the ability of amphiphilic molecules, whether lipids, surfactants, or block copolymers, to self-assemble into the discrete nanostructures called micelles is well known, this field has recently seen remarkable upsurge in activity. This reflects an underlying synergy among advances in synthetic technique, characterization expertise, theoretical understanding, and potential applications in many commercial sectors. A particularly rich vein of recent research concerns multicompartment micelles, i.e. those micelles that have a solvent-phobic core that is subdivided into two or more discrete nanodomains. The original concept underlying this field was apparently first enunciated by Helmut Ringsdorff, but it has only been in the past 3 years that publications have appeared documenting such structures.

Multicompartment micelles offer tremendous potential as containers to store, transport, and deliver two or more active agents, simultaneously and in prescribed stoichiometric proportions. By separating the components into discrete nanodomains, otherwise incompatible agents (acid/base; oxidant/reductant) can be both stored and delivered safely. The appeal as vehicles for drug delivery is clear, but the same principles should be broadly applicable, e.g. in agrichemicals, personal care products, and food science. The underlying scientific questions that are only now being addressed include: (i) What molecular architectures and components are most promising? (ii) What structures are possible? (iii) What characterization methods are most effective? (iv) Can theory explain what is seen, and guide future experiments? This Symposium will bring together all the world's experts in the field, and especially those who have contributed in this particular area.

The following internationally renowned scientists have agreed to speak in this symposium:

Volker Abetz, Geesthacht Institut für Chemie
Steven Armes, University of Sheffield
Nitash Balsara, University of California, Berkeley
Adi Eisenberg, McGill University
Robert Jeröme, University of Liege
Wei Jiang, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chang Chun
Harm-Anton Klok, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
Andre Laschewsky, Fraunhofer Institute, Golm
Guojun Liu, Queen's University
Wolfgang Meier, Universität, Basel
Darrin Pochan, University of Delaware
Tony Ryan, University of Sheffield
Andreas Thünemann, Federal Insitute for Materials Research, Berlin
Constantinos Tsitsilianis, University of Patras
Karen Wooley, Washington University

Sympoisum organizers:
Timothy P. Lodge, University of Minnesota (lodge@chem.umn.edu)
Marc A. Hillmyer, University of Minnesota (hillmyer@chem.umn.edu)