Upper-rim acidic peptidocalixarenes as crystal growth modifiers

Calix[4]arenes functionalised at the upper rim with acidic amino acid residues are found to have a significant impact on the crystal growth of model mineral systems, calcium carbonate and barium sulphate. The aspartic acid derivative is found to be most efficacious, matching or exceeding the impact of commercial phosphonate-based scale inhibitors. In some cases, the modified morphologies are found to be similar to those induced by proteins isolated from biomineralised systems.