Solvent‐induced Gel Formation Hypothesis for Natural Product Gelators with Polycyclic Structures

Abstract

Natural products have long been used as pharmaceutical actives for the treatment of diseases. More recently, natural products with the ability to self‐assemble to form soft material‐gels, i.e. natural product gelators (NPGs), were discovered. This subverts our traditional insight into natural products as drugs and drives us to elucidate how NPGs form gels. Here, we interpret “why gel” from the perspective of solvents based on the basic theory of thermodynamics for liquids, and then propose the hypothesis of solvent‐induced gel formation in combination with the NPGs with polycyclic structures. This hypothesis provides a complete explanation of how the gelator and solvent play a role in the overall gel formation and helps us to more easily understand the gelation.

Supramolecular assemblies based on natural small molecules: Union would be effective

“…And it is likely that the self-assembly properties determined their roles of both drug and adjuvant. Moreover, according with basic theory of thermodynamics, hot refluxing and decoction with water have inadvertently created appropriate conditions for the formation of natural assemblies, which was the cause of the majority of self-assembled NSMs discovered by the formation of thermo-sensitive gel [ 138 , 139 ].…”

Self-assembly of the monohydroxy triterpenoid lupeol yielding nano-fibers, sheets and gel: environmental and drug delivery applications

“…We have isolated lupeol from the dried outer bark of indian owering plant Bombax ceiba by following standard method developed in our laboratory and characterized by various spectroscopic techniques. 55 The purity of the sample used in this study was checked by 1 H and 13 C NMR, DEPT and HRMS.…”

“…According to our knowledge, detailed self-assembly and gelation properties of lupeol in different liquids and their morphological characterizations have not yet been reported. [5][6][7]55 Herein, we report the self-assembly and gelation property of lupeol in different neat liquids as well as mixed liquids via formation of bers, sheet having nano-to micro-meter dimensions. The morphology of gels of lupeol were characterized using several microscopic 2 Results and discussion…”