Glucofuranose derivatives as a library for designing and investigating low molecular mass organogelators

We designed and synthesized a class of saccharide-based gelators having three free OH groups in the glucofuranose fragment. The gelating abilities of fourteen compounds were examined to systematically study the influence of the hydrophobic fragment connected to the C2′ carbon. Also the correlation between the saccharide crystal structure and its gelating properties was examined, showing limited usefulness in this particular case. SEM observations were carried out in order to investigate the hierarchical structure of xerogels and changes depending on different gel concentration.