Self-Assembly of a Sugar-Based Gelator in Water:  Its Remarkable Diversity in Gelation Ability and Aggregate Structure

Abstract

A new sugar-based gelator 1 was synthesized, and its gelation ability was evaluated in organic solvents and water. Very surprisingly, 1 was found to gelate organic solvents as well as water, indicating that 1 can act as an amphiphilic gelator. We characterized on superstructures of an aqueous gel from 1 using SEM, TEM, NMR, IR, and XRD. The aqueous gel 1 formed a three-dimensional network with 20-500 nm diameter puckered fibrils. In addition, the chiral aggregate was found to be largely twisted helical ribbons with ca. 85 nm width, ca. 315 nm pitch, and up to several micrometer length, whose helicity was exclusively left-handed. XRD diagrams indicate that an aqueous gel 1 maintains a bilayered structure with 2.90 nm long-range spacing. This gives the first example of the formation of well ordered bilayer-based aqueous gel. The XRD, FT-NMR, and FT-IR results suggested that the aqueous gel 1 is stabilized by a combination of the hydrogen bonding, π-π interactions, and hydrophobic forces.

Synthesis and Characterization of Silica Nanotube by Glycyldodecylamide as a Template

“…The d-spacing of the aggregates were approximately 4.1, 2.06, 1.38, 1.05 nm and corresponded to the twice of the extended molecular length of GDA a Present address: Department of Nano-Fusion Technology Thermolon Korea, Co. Ltd, Jung-gu, Busan (2.05 nm, by the Chemdraw 3D molecular modeling) that is quite similar to the length of two molecules of GDA surfactant. 25 These results indicated that a gelation material maintained a bilayered structure with a 4.1 nm of bimolecular sheet which was corresponded to the (100) plane ( Figure S1A). The SEM image strongly supported the lamellar structure, which could be explained due to the hydrogen bonded bilayered assembly of GDA dimeric amphiphile ( Figure 1A).…”

Chiral Molecular Self‐Assembly

“…A related compound containing an amide linkage between the hydrocarbon and acyl chain (18) was found to form a three-dimensional network of 20-500-nm-diameter puckered fibrils. 60 …”

The structural parameters of rigid matrix of saccharide-based gel described by short and long diffusion regime analysis

“…A rigid network structure forms due to a self-organization of gelator molecules by various physical interactions: van der Waals, hydrogen bonds, p-bonds, etc. [10]. However, in such system no irreversible (chemical bounds) interactions between the solvent and the gelating material occur; hence, the separation of the liquid phase and the rigid gel formed becomes possible, opposite than in the case of chemical gels.…”