Fig. 3. (a) In a biphasic mixture, compounds 1 and 2 are metathesized by a ruthenium catalyst present in the medium (not shown in the scheme for clarity) to create the thermodynamically activated amphiphile 3. After 3 accesses a micellar structure, a second metathesis reaction produces the thermodynamically stable product 4, and results in disassembly. Structures of the compounds and the reactions are shown in the box. (b) Change of the concentration of different species in the biphasic mixture with time. (c) Change of the concentration of different species in the biphasic mixture in the presence of 20 mol% of seed 3. Adapted from ref. 28 with permission from Nature Publishing House.