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An inorganic-organic hybrid surfactant with a hexavanadate cluster as the polar head group was designed and observed to assemble into micelle structures, which further spontaneously coagulate into a 1D anisotropic structure in aqueous solutions. Such a hierarchical self-assembly process is driven by the cooperation of varied noncovalent interactions, including hydrophobic, electrostatic, and hydrogen-bonding interactions. The hydrophobic interaction drives the quick formation of the micelle structure; electrostatic interactions involving counterions leads to the further coagulation of the micelles into larger assemblies. This process is similar to the crystallization process, but the specific counterions and the directional hydrogen bonding lead to the 1D growth of the final assemblies. Since most of the hexavanadates are exposed to the surface, the 1D assembly with nanoscale thickness is a highly efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the oxidation of organic sulfides with appreciable recyclability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An inorganic–organic hybrid surfactant with a hexavanadate cluster as the polar head group underwent stepwise assembly into micelles and finally, a 1D nanobelt structure with the cooperation of hydrophobic, electrostatic, and hydrogen‐bonding interactions; these last interactions are directional and lead to the anisotropic assemblies. The nanobelts are highly efficient heterogeneous catalysts for the oxidation of organic sulfides because most of the hexavanadates are exposed to the surface, showing its potential application in the petroleum industry and in environmentally benign chemistry. For more details see the Full Paper by T. Li, Y. Wei, T. Liu et al. on page 9589 ff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]