Fluorous ‘Ponytails’ Lead to Strong Gelators Showing Thermally Induced Structure Evolution

Kumari, Harshita; Armitage, Sarah E.; Kline, Steven R.; Damodaran, Krishna K.; Kennedy, Stuart R.; Atwood, Jerry L.; Steed, Jonathan W.

Abstract

Appending perfluoroalkyl substituents to bis(urea) gelators results in significantly decreased inter-chain interactions with markedly thinner fibres and hence more cross-linked and more transparent gels with potential applications in the crystallisation of fluorinated pharmaceuticals. Gel structure has been probed by detailed SANS measurements which indicate a surprising structure evolution on thermal cycling, not seen for hydrocarbon analogues. The SANS data are complemented by the single crystal X-ray structure of one fluorinated gelator.

Citation

Kumari, H., Armitage, S. E., Kline, S. R., Damodaran, K. K., Kennedy, S. R., Atwood, J. L., & Steed, J. W. (2015). Fluorous ‘Ponytails’ Lead to Strong Gelators Showing Thermally Induced Structure Evolution. Soft Matter, 11(43), 8471-8478. https://doi.org/10.1039/c5sm01865j

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 3, 2015
• Publication Date: Nov 21, 2015
• Deposit Date: Sep 3, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 4, 2015
• Journal: Soft Matter
• Print ISSN: 1744-683X
• Electronic ISSN: 1744-6848
• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 43
• Pages: 8471-8478
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/c5sm01865j