Journal of the American Chemical Society

Anatomy of a gel. Amino acid derivatives that rigidify water at submillimolar concentrations

FM Menger, KL Caran

Index: Menger; Caran Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2000 , vol. 122, # 47 p. 11679 - 11691

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Citation Number: 307

Abstract

On the basis of suggestive X-ray data, 14 aroyl l-cystine derivatives were designed, synthesized, and examined for their ability to gelate water. Several members of this amino acid family are remarkably effective aqueous gelators (the best being one that can rigidify aqueous solutions at 0.25 mM, ca. 0.01%, in less than 30 s!). A few of the analogues separate from water as crystals, indicating a close relationship between gelation and ...