ORIGINAL ARTICLE Cytosine: para-sulphonato-calix[4]arene assemblies: in solution, in the solid-state and on the surface of hybrid silver nanoparticles Yannick Tauran • Moez Rhimi • Ryohei Ueno • Marie Grosso • Arnaud Brioude • Erwann Janneau • Kinga Suwinska • Rima Kassab • Patrick Shahgaldian • Alessandro Cumbo • Bernard Fenet • Beomjoon Kim • Anthony W. Coleman Received: 11 May 2012 / Accepted: 8 August 2012 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012 Abstract The molecular recognition by para-sulphonato- calix[4]arene of cytosine, occurs in solution, in the solid- state and by assembly on the surface of para-sulphonato- calix[4]arene capped silver nanoparticles. Each of these states shows different modes of assembly; in solution a 1:1 complex is formed; in the solid state a 4:1 assembly exists, however some of the cytosine molecules are present as space fillers and do not participate in the host (guest complexes, finally on the surface of the hybrid silver/para- sulphonato-calix[4]arene nanoparticles a 2:1 cytosine/ para-sulphonato-calix[4]arene assembly is observed. The assembly processes have been studied by DOSY NMR, fluorescence spectroscopy, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Single Crystal Solid State Diffraction, Visible Spectroscopy and Electron Microscopy. The results dem- onstrate how cytosine initiates the aggregation of the hybrid silver/para-sulphonato-calix[4]arene hybrid nanoparticles. Keywords Cytosine  Para-sulphonato-calix[4]arene  Hybrid silver nanoparticles  Solution  Solid-state  Colloids Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10847-012-0235-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Y. Tauran  M. Grosso  A. Brioude  A. W. Coleman (&) LMI, CNRS UMR 5615, Univ. Lyon 1, Villeurbanne 69622, France e-mail: aw.coleman@ibcp.fr; antony.coleman@adm.univ- lyon1.fr Y. Tauran  B. Kim LIMMS/CNRS-IIS (UMI 2820), University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan M. Rhimi BMSSI UMR5086-CNRS, Institut de Biologie Et Chimie des Proteines FR3302, Univ. Lyon 1, 7 Passage du Vercors, Lyon 69367, France R. Ueno  B. Kim CIRMM, Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan E. Janneau Centre de diffractome ´trie Henri Longchambon, Univ. Lyon 1, Villeurbanne 69622, France K. Suwinska Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kasprzaka 44/52, 01 224 Warszawa, Poland K. Suwinska (&) Faculty of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Cardinal Stefan, Wyszynski University in Warsaw, Wo ´ycickiego 1/3, 01 938 Warszawa, Poland e-mail: ksuwinska@ichf.edu.pl R. Kassab Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Balamand, P.O. Box 100, Tripoli, Lebanon P. Shahgaldian  A. Cumbo Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, Hochschule fu ¨r Lifesciences, Gru ¨ndenstrasse 40, 4132 Muttenz, Switzerland B. Fenet Centre Commun RMN, Univ. Lyon 1, Villeurbanne 69622, France 123 J Incl Phenom Macrocycl Chem DOI 10.1007/s10847-012-0235-4