The photoinduced gelation system based on 1 (non-gelling) to 2 (gelling) molecular photoisomerization in water results by microspheres (1) to gel fibers (2) transformation at the supramolecular level.

Bis(LeuOH) (1a), bis-(ValOH) (2a) and bis(PhgOH) (5a) (Phg denotes (R)-phenylglycine) oxalyl amides are efficient low molecular weight organic gelators of various organic solvents and their mixtures as well as water, water/DMSO, and water/DMF mixtures. The organisational motifs in aqueous gels are dominated primarily by lipophilic interactions while those in organic solvents are formed by intermolecular hydrogen bonding. Most of the gels are thermoreversible and stable for many months. However, 2a forms unstable gels with organic solvents which upon ageing transform into variety of crystalline shapes. For some 1a/alcohol gels, a linear correlation between alcohol dielectric constants (epsilon) and gel melting temperatures (Tg) was found. The 1H NMR and FTIR spectroscopic investigations of selected gels reveal the existence of temperature dependent network assembly/dissolution equilibrium. In the 1H NMR spectra of gels only the molecules dissolved in entrapped solvent could be observed. By using an internal standard, the concentration of dissolved gelator molecules could be determined. In FTIR spectra, the bands corresponding to network assembled and dissolved gelator molecules are simultaneously present. This enabled determination of the Kgel values by using both methods. From the plots of InKgel versus 1/T, the deltaHgel values of selected gels have been determined (-deltaHgel in 10-36 kJ mol(-1) range) and found to be strongly solvent dependent. The deltaHgel values determined by 1H NMR and FTIR spectroscopy are in excellent agreement. Crystal structures of 2a and rac-5a show the presence of organisational motifs and intermolecular interactions in agreement with those in gel fibres elucidated by spectroscopic methods.

Four new chiral bis(amino alcohol)oxalamides (1-4: amino alcohol=leucinol, valinol, phenylglycinol, and phenylalaninol, respectively) have been prepared as low-molecular-weight organic gelators. Their gelation properties towards various organic solvents and mixtures were determined and these were then compared to related bis(amino acid) oxalamide gelators. Spectroscopic (FTIR, (1)H NMR) and X-ray diffraction studies revealed that the primary organization motif of (S,S)-1 and racemate 1 (rac-1) in lipophilic solvents involved the formation of inverse bilayers. The X-ray crystal structure of (S,S)-1 also shows this type of bilayer organization. The crystal structure of rac-2 reveals meso bilayers of hydrogen-bonded aggregates. Within the bilayers formed, the gelator molecules are connected by cooperative hydrogen bonding between oxalamide units and OH groups, while the interbilayer interactions are realized through lipophilic interactions between the iBu groups of leucinol. Oxalamide meso-1 lacks any gelation ability and crystallizes in monolayers. In dichloromethane rac-1 forms an unstable gel; this is prone to crystallization as a result of the formation of symmetrical meso bilayers. In contrast, in aromatic solvents rac-1 forms stable gels; this indicates that enantiomeric bilayers are formed. Oxalamide rac-1 is capable of gelling a volume of toluene three times larger than (S,S)-1. A tranmission electron microscopy investigation of rac-1 and (S,S)-1 toluene gels reveals the presence of thinner fibers in the former gel, and, hence, a more compact network that is capable of immobilizing a larger volume of the solvent. The self-assembly of these types of gelator molecules into bilayers and subsequent formation of fibrous aggregates can be explained by considering the strength and direction of aggregate forces (supramolecular vectors) in three-dimensional space.

No abstract

Some bis (amino acid) oxalamide gelators form common thermo-reversible gels with various organic solvents but also gels of exceptional thermal stability with some solvents of medium and low polarity; the latter gels can be heated up to 50 degrees C higher temperatures than the bp of the solvent without apparent gel-to-sol transition.

No abstract

The electron spin-lattice relaxation of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidine-1-oxyl and 4-oxo-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidine-1-oxyl was measured at temperatures between 5 and 80 K in crystalline and glassy ethanol using X-band electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. The experimental data at the lowest temperatures studied were explained in terms of electron-nuclear dipolar interaction between the paramagnetic center and the localized excitations, whereas at higher temperatures low-frequency vibrational modes from the host matrix and Raman processes should be considered. The strong impact of hydrogen bonding between the dopant molecule and ethanol host on the spin relaxation was observed in ethanol glass whereas in crystalline ethanol both paramagnetic guest molecules behaved similarly. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.80.052201 PACS number͑s͒: 61.43.Fs, 76.30.Ϫv, 63.50.Ϫx, 65.60.ϩa Coupling of the electron spin to disorder modes of various doped matrices has been extensively studied due to the sensitivity of the approach toward dynamical properties of the observed systems.1-3 Research on disordered solids has shown that nitroxyl radicals can contribute toward the characterization of glass-forming materials, 4-6 providing experimental data for the development of self-consistent theories of molecular dynamics in glasses in general.7-10 The work presented here has been in part motivated by the lack of nitroxyl spin-lattice relaxation-time data measured below 20 K in disordered solids 11,12 and, to the best of the authors' knowledge, by the very few examples comparing paramagnetic relaxation rate data in glassy and crystalline states of the same compound. 13 Solid ethanol has been found to be a very convenient model system for the investigation of molecular solids, as it can be easily prepared in phases characterized by different types of disorder. 14,15 In our previous studies we have shown how, within the course of an X-band electron paramagnetic resonance ͑EPR͒ experiment, glassy and crystalline ethanol can be studied on the very same sample using incorporated nitroxyl radicals.5 Since nitroxyl radicals can be purposely tailored, in the context of this study we have chosen two almost identical paramagnetic probes, which differ only in one carbonyl group. We focused on the influence of hydrogen bonding between the incorporated paramagnetic guest molecule and the host matrix on the microscopic nature of probe/matrix dynamics. The central point is the comparative analysis of spin relaxation in crystalline and glassy states of the same host material. The experiments were performed in the temperature range 5-80 K, which is well below the ethanol glass transition ͑95 K͒. 14 The liquid ethanol ͓anhydrous, min. 99.8% ͑GC͒, p.a. from Kemika, Zagreb͔ and hexadeuteroethanol ͑deuteration degree Ͼ99.5% from Uvasol, Merck͒ were doped with the nitroxide paramagnetic spin-probe 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidine-1-oxyl ͑TEMPO͒ or 4-oxo-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidine-1-oxyl ͑TEMPONE͒ from Aldrich, at a concentration of 0.7 mM. Glass...

SummaryIn this work we report on gelation properties, self-assembly motifs, chirality effects and morphological characteristics of gels formed by chiral retro-dipeptidic gelators in the form of terminal diacids (1a–5a) and their dimethyl ester (1b–5b) and dicarboxamide (1c–5c) derivatives. Terminal free acid retro-dipeptides (S,S)-bis(LeuLeu) 1a, (S,S)-bis(PhgPhg) 3a and (S,S)-bis(PhePhe) 5a showed moderate to excellent gelation of highly polar water/DMSO and water/DMF solvent mixtures. Retro-peptides incorporating different amino acids (S,S)-(LeuPhg) 2a and (S,S)-(PhgLeu) 4a showed no or very weak gelation. Different gelation effectiveness was found for racemic and single enantiomer gelators. The heterochiral (S,R)-1c diastereoisomer is capable of immobilizing up to 10 and 4 times larger volumes of dichloromethane/DMSO and toluene/DMSO solvent mixtures compared to homochiral (S,S)-1c. Based on the results of 1H NMR, FTIR, CD investigations, molecular modeling and XRPD studies of diasteroisomeric diesters (S,S)-1b/(S,R)-1b and diacids (S,S)-1b/(S,R)-1a, a basic packing model in their gel aggregates is proposed. The intermolecular hydrogen bonding between extended gelator molecules utilizing both, the oxalamide and peptidic units and layered organization were identified as the most likely motifs appearing in the gel aggregates. Molecular modeling studies of (S,S)- 1a/(S,R)-1a and (S,S)-1b/(S,R)- 1b diasteroisomeric pairs revealed a decisive stereochemical influence yielding distinctly different low energy conformations: those of (S,R)-diastereoisomers with lipophilic i-Bu groups and polar carboxylic acid or ester groups located on the opposite sides of the oxalamide plane resembling bola amphiphilic structures and those of (S,S)-diasteroisomers possessing the same groups located at both sides of the oxalamide plane. Such conformational characteristics were found to strongly influence both, gelator effectiveness and morphological characteristics of gel aggregates.