Bis(amino acid) oxalyl amides as ambidextrous gelators of water and organic solvents: supramolecular gels with temperature dependent assembly/dissolution equilibrium.

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.