Aqueous Crystallization Unlocks Tunable Structural Color from Isoxanthopterin

Abstract

In nature, some animals generate reflective tissues through the controlled precipitation of organic matter. Whether assembled as amorphous structures within the lumen of butterfly wing scales to produce color, or as spherulitic nanomaterials within the epithelial cells of certain vertebrates and crustaceans to enhance visual acuity, certain biomolecules exhibit a conserved capacity to template structures whose refractive index and morphology directly govern optical properties. One such example, isoxanthopterin, produces some of the most reflective structures found in biology yet remains largely unexplored as an engineered material, owing in part to its limited solubility. We investigate the chemical principles underlying isoxanthopterin assembly in aqueous solution and show that the balance between electrostatic repulsion and hydrogen bonding governs crystal formation, with pH tuning this balance to modulate size and, in turn, bulk optical properties. These structural and optical differences reveal simple design principles for engineering color from a single starting biomolecule, informing the design of future aqueous-based optical materials

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BibTeX

@misc{dou2026aqueous,
  title = {{Aqueous Crystallization Unlocks Tunable Structural Color from Isoxanthopterin}},
  author = {Wen Dou and Leila F. Deravi},
  howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15008844/v1},
  url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008844/v1},
  note = {CC BY},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Aqueous Crystallization Unlocks Tunable Structural Color from Isoxanthopterin
AU  - Wen Dou
AU  - Leila F. Deravi
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/15
PB  - ChemRxiv
DO  - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15008844/v1
UR  - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008844/v1
AB  - In nature, some animals generate reflective tissues through the controlled precipitation of organic matter. Whether assembled as amorphous structures within the lumen of butterfly wing scales to produce color, or as spherulitic nanomaterials within the epithelial cells of certain vertebrates and crustaceans to enhance visual acuity, certain biomolecules exhibit a conserved capacity to template structures whose refractive index and morphology directly govern optical properties. One such example, isoxanthopterin, produces some of the most reflective structures found in biology yet remains largely unexplored as an engineered material, owing in part to its limited solubility. We investigate the chemical principles underlying isoxanthopterin assembly in aqueous solution and show that the balance between electrostatic repulsion and hydrogen bonding governs crystal formation, with pH tuning this balance to modulate size and, in turn, bulk optical properties. These structural and optical differences reveal simple design principles for engineering color from a single starting biomolecule, informing the design of future aqueous-based optical materials
ER  -

Abstract

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