Anion tuning of the rheology, morphology and gelation of a low molecular weight salt hydrogelator

Gareth O Lloyd, Jonathan W Steed

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

63 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

1-(3-Methyl-1H-pyrazol-5-yl)-3-(3-nitrophenyl) urea (1) forms hydrogels in a range of acids at pH 1-2. The morphology and rheology of these gels are dependent on the identity of the anion and represent a way of tuning the gels' physical properties. The magnitude of the elastic storage modulus of the gels follows the trend according to the acid used to protonate the gelator H2SO4 > MePO3H2 > H3PO4 approximate to HBF4 approximate to HPF6 > EtPO3H2. Chloride salts do not form gels and the nitrate gels are unstable with respect to crystallisation. Salting out or addition of methanol results in the characterisation of five salts of 1 which reveals extensive solvation in the solid state and the absence of urea...urea hydrogen bonding in contrast to the well known bis(urea) gelators.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)75-84
Number of pages10
JournalSoft Matter
Volume7
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2011

Keywords

  • AMMONIUM MONOCARBOXYLATE SALTS
  • AMINO-ACID DERIVATIVES
  • MASS ORGANIC GELATORS
  • ION-PAIR BINDING
  • X-RAY CRYSTAL
  • PHASE-TRANSITION
  • CO-CRYSTAL
  • SUPRAMOLECULAR HYDROGEL
  • COMBINATORIAL LIBRARY
  • HETEROCYCLIC UREAS

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