A tetrameric sugar-based azobenzene that gels water at various pH values and in the presence of salts.

A novel low-molecular mass tetrameric sugar derivative containing azobenzene core, 1, showed pronounced hydrogelation at micromolar concentration. Based on this observation, four related azobenzene based tetrameric sugar derivatives, 4-7, and three tetrameric sugar derivatives with a bis-terephthalamide core, 9-11, were also synthesized. However, none of these closely related analogues of the compound 1 showed effective gelation. The gel formed from 1 was characterized extensively using melting temperature analysis, UV-vis, FT-IR, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The resultant gel exhibited impressive tolerance to the pH variation of the aqueous phase and gelated water in the pH range of 4-10. While UV-vis and CD spectroscopy indicated that pronounced aggregation of the azobenzene chromophores in 1 was responsible for gelation, FT-IR studies showed that hydrogen bonding is also a contributing factor in the gelation process. The melting of gel was found to depend on the pH of the aqueous medium in which gel was formed. The gel showed considerable photostability to UV irradiation, indicating tight intermolecular packing inside the gelated state that rendered azobenzene groups in the resultant aggregate refractory to photoisomerization. The electron micrographs of the aqueous gels of 1 showed the existence of spongy globular aggregates in such gelated materials. Addition of salts to the aqueous medium led to a delay in the gelation process and also caused remarkable morphological changes in the microstructure of the gel.