Self-organization of amphiphilic macromolecules with local helix structure in concentrated solutions

Concentrated solutions of amphiphilic macromolecules with local helical structure were studied by means of molecular dynamic simulations. It is shown that in poor solvent the macromolecules are assembled into wire-like aggregates having complex core-shell structure. The core consists of a hydrophobic backbone of the chains which intertwine around each other. It is protected by the shell of hydrophilic side groups. In racemic mixture of right-hand and left-hand helix macromolecules the wire-like complex is a chain of braid bundles of macromolecules with the same chirality stacking at their ends. The average number of macromolecules in the wire cross-section is close to that of separate bundles observed in dilute solutions of such macromolecules. The effects described here could serve as a simple model of self-organization in solutions of macromolecules with local helical structure.