Abstract
Carbohydrate based low molecular weight gelators have been an intense subject of study over the past decade. The self-assembling systems built from natural products have high significance as biocompatible materials and renewable resources. The versatile structures available from naturally existing monosaccharides have enriched the molecular libraries that can be used for the construction of gelators. The bottom-up strategy in designing low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) for a variety of applications has been adopted by many researchers. Rational design, along with some serendipitous discoveries, has resulted in multiple classes of molecular gelators. This review covers the literature from 2017–2020 on monosaccharide based gelators, including common hexoses, pentoses, along with some disaccharides and their derivatives. The structure-based design and structure to gelation property relationships are reviewed first, followed by stimuli-responsive gelators. The last section focuses on the applications of the sugar based gelators, including their utilization in environmental remediation, ion sensing, catalysis, drug delivery and 3D-printing. We will also review the available LMWGs and their structure correlations to the desired properties for different applications. This review aims at elucidating the design principles and structural features that are pertinent to various applications and hope to provide certain guidelines for researchers that are working at the interface of chemistry, biochemistry, and materials science.
Highlights
There are two major types of gel forming materials, polymers and small molecules
Since the formation of supramolecular gels is fully versible, this may lend these gels to many desirable applications that are complementa to existing polymer-based soft materials
This study reveals the first example of a supramolecular gel formed by a low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) that exhibits sustained release through a disulfide reshuffling mechanism
Summary
There are two major types of gel forming materials, polymers and small molecules. LMWGs are small molecules, typically molecular weight less than 2000 D, that are able to form reversible gels in various solvents. The resulting gels are termed physical gels or supramolecular gels due to the non-covalent driving forces of gelation They can form either organogels in organic solvents or hydrogels in water. The formation of these supramolecular gels relies on non-covalent intermolecular forces, including hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions, π-π stacking, and van der Waals interactions. Supramolecular hydrogels are analogous to polymer hydrogels, except with different physical and chemical properties They have different thermo stabilities; for instance, typically the molecular gels are unstable at higher temperatures, but stable at lower temperatures. MaNn-yacsettiyml-Du-lgi-lurecosspaomninsiev, De -olarcgtoasneo, agnedlaDt-omrsal,twosehaicshwceallnasrseosrpboitnoldastosheoxwtnerinnaFligsutirme 1u. li such light,MpaHny, asntimduelni-zreysmpoenss,ivheaovregaanlosgoeblaetoerns,dwehsiicghnceadn raesspsomndarttoseoxftetrmnaal tsetirmiaullsi.sIunchthaes se eral slseiegcchttitio,opnnHss, ,,wawnedweeiwnllzbiylrmliebeflsry,ihedafilvsyceuadslssiosgcebuleaestnosrdsgedesliegarnitvoeedrdsafsdrosemmraitvrhteesdodfitfffmreorametnertitashulseg. aIdnr ibtfhufeeilrndeeinnxgttsbselvuoegcrkaaslr buildi blocksstasrttainrgtifnrogmfrDo-mgluDco-gsel.ucose
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