The physical and chemical mechanisms of small molecules with pharmacological activity forming nano-structures are developing into a new field of nano-medicine. By using ROESY 2D NMR spectroscopy, trandem mass spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and computer-assisted molecular modeling, this paper demonstrated the contribution of the folded conformation, the intra- and intermolecular π-π stacking, the intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonds, and the receptor binding free energy of 6-dimethylaminonaph-2-yl-{N-S-[1-benzylcarba-moyl-4-(2-chloroacetamidobutyl)]-carboxamide (YW3-56) to the rapid formation of nano-rings and the slow formation of nano-capsules. Thus we have developed a strategy that makes it possible to elucidate the physical and chemical mechanisms of bioactive small molecules forming nano-structures.
Keywords: Anti-cancer; Conformation; Mechanism; Nano-medicine; Nano-structure; PAD4.