New Physical Hydrogels Based on Co-Assembling of FMOC–Amino Acids

Abstract

In the last years, physical hydrogels have been widely studied due to the characteristics of these structures, respectively the non-covalent interactions and the absence of other necessary components for the cross-linking processes. Low molecular weight gelators are a class of small molecules which form higher ordered structures through hydrogen bonding and π–π interactions. In this context it is known that the formation of hydrogels based on FMOC–amino acids is determined by the primary structures of amino acids and the secondary structure arrangement (alpha–helix or beta–sheet motifs). The present study aimed to obtain supramolecular gels through co-assembly phenomenon using FMOC–amino acids as low molecular weight gelators. The stability of the new structures was evaluated by the vial inversion test, while FTIR spectra put into evidence the interaction between the compounds. The gel-like structure is evidenced by viscoelastic parameters in oscillatory shear conditions. SEM microscopy was used to obtain the visual insight into the morphology of the physical hydrogel network while DLS measurements highlighted the sol-gel transition. The molecular arrangement of gels was determined by circular dichroism, fluorescence and UV-Vis spectroscopy.

Keywords

• supramolecular gels
• amino acids
• co-assembly
• low molecular weight gelators