Stearoylamido-D-Glucamine Hydrogelators for Thixotropic Molecular Gels with Tunable Softness by Chemical Modification.

Low-molecular-weight hydrogelators containing stearoyl, glycine, and D-glucamine moieties with or without methyl groups were synthesized to prepare chemically tuned molecular hydrogels. To evaluate the role of hydrogen bonding of hydrogelators in molecular hydrogel formation, the author has newly synthesized hydrogelators with or without methyl groups at their N-H in amide groups, contributing to the hydrogen bond formation in fiber in molecular hydrogels. The obtained hydrogels exhibited improved thixotropic performance with tunable softness, exhibiting pseudo-reversible thixotropic cycles that depended on the methyl substitution positions in the hydrogelators. To change the hydrogen bonds' positions by chemical modification has made it possible to tune the mechanical properties of molecular gels.