Influence of dispersive forces on the final shape of a reverse micelle.

Micelles are interesting self-organized structures with multiple applications in chemistry and related with the formation of biological structures. Their final shape depends on a subtle equilibrium between several weak forces: namely, van der Waals and hydrogen bond interactions. In order to address the influence of each type of interaction, the aggregation of cyclohexanol molecules was studied in the gas phase. The geometry of the clusters formed with sizes from 2 to 6 cyclohexanol molecules was elucidated by an IR double resonance technique that combines fs and ns lasers. Comparison of the structures obtained with those from previous studies demonstrates that hydrogen bond plays a central role in defining the general shape, but that its contribution to the overall stabilization energy may be lower than expected in systems with multiple C-H···π interactions.