Structural characterization and chemical response of a Ag-coordinated supramolecular gel.

Supramolecular gels exhibit potential applications in the areas of sensors, nanodevices, drug and catalyst carriers, and so on. To develop a novel organogel with a multiresponse, we designed a component molecule bearing a pyridyl group for metal coordination and an amide group for the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonding. A complex building block with a symmetrical structure was selectively constructed by the coordination of a silver cation to the organic component. The coordination existing in the complex and the hydrogen bonding existing between complexes were examined by IR, Raman, and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The gel formation and phase transition were examined by viscosity and differential scanning calorimetry measurements. The selection of metal ions for the formation of a gel has proved to be crucial as only the complex of a binary coordinated metal ion, Ag+, was found to form a gel structure. From the band shift of the L1 solution with different amounts of silver ion, the binding ratio of silver ion to L1 was estimated to be 1:2 and the calculated stability constant was 3.6 x 10(8) M(-2). On the basis of the analysis of X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy results, we proposed a possible stacking structure of the complex in the fibrous aggregates. Of interest is that the organogel exhibits a 3-D network structure of a beltlike fiber composed of ordered lamellar arrangements of the coordinated complex and shows a rapid response to wide chemical stimulations such as anions I-, Br-, and Cl-, gases such as H(2)S and NH(3), and a change of pH.