Supramolecular phase-selective gelation by peptides bearing side-chain azobenzenes: effect of ultrasound and potential for dye removal and oil spill remediation.

Phase selective gelation (PSG) of organic phases from their non-miscible mixtures with water was achieved using tetrapeptides bearing a side-chain azobenzene moiety. The presence of the chromophore allowed PSG at the same concentration as the minimum gelation concentration (MGC) necessary to obtain the gels in pure organic phases. Remarkably, the presence of the water phase during PSG did not impact the thermal, mechanical, and morphological properties of the corresponding organogels. In the case of miscible oil/water mixtures, the entire mixture was gelled, resulting in the formation of quasi-hydrogels. Importantly, PSG could be triggered at room temperature by ultrasound treatment of the mixture or by adding ultrasound-aided concentrated solution of the peptide in an oil-phase to a mixture of the same oil and water. Moreover, the PSG was not affected by the presence of salts or impurities existing in water from natural sources. The process could be scaled-up, and the oil phases (e.g., aromatic solvents, gasoline, diesel fuel) recovered almost quantitatively after a simple distillation process, which also allowed the recovery and reuse of the gelator. Finally, these peptidic gelators could be used to quantitatively remove toxic dyes from aqueous solutions.

Sulfonamide as amide isostere for fine-tuning the gelation properties of physical gels.

(S)-2-Stearamidopentanedioic acid (C18-Glu) is a known LMW gelator that forms supramolecular gels in a variety of solvents. In this work, we have carried out the isosteric substitution of the amide group by a sulfonamide moiety yielding the new isosteric gelator (S)-2-(octadecylsulfonamido)pentanedioic acid (Sulfo-Glu). The gelation ability and the key properties of the corresponding gels were compared in terms of gelation concentration, gel-to-sol transition temperature, mechanical properties, morphology, and gelation kinetics in several organic solvents and water. This comparison was also extended to (S)-2-(4-hexadecyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)pentanedioic acid (Click-Glu), which also constitutes an isostere of C18-Glu. The stabilizing interactions were explored through computational calculations. In general, Sulfo-Glu enabled the formation of non-toxic gels at lower concentrations, faster, and with higher thermal-mechanical stabilities than those obtained with the other isosteres in most solvents. Furthermore, the amide-sulfonamide isosteric substitution also influenced the morphology of the gel networks as well as the release rate of an embedded antibiotic (vancomycin) leading to antibacterial activity in vitro against Staphylococcus aureus.

Instantaneous low temperature gelation by a multicomponent organogelator liquid system based on ammonium salts.

A new synergistic multicomponent organogelator liquid system (MOGLS) was discovered during the standard protocol of tartaric acid-mediated racemic resolution of (+/-)- trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane. The MOGLS is formed by a 0.126 M methanolic solution of (1 R,2 R)-(+)-1,2-diaminocyclohexane L-tartrate and 1 equiv of concentrated hydrochloric acid. Nonreversible gelation of oxygenated and nitrogenated solvents occurs efficiently at low temperature. Several features make this system unique: (1) it is a multicomponent solution where each of the five components is required for the organogelation property; (2) the multicomponent organogelator liquid system (MOGLS) is formed by simple, small, and commercially available chiral building blocks dissolved in a well-defined solvent system (MeOH/HCl/H2O); (3) the chiral building blocks are easily amenable for further modifications in structure-property relationship studies; (4) the gelation phenomenon takes place efficiently at low temperature upon warming up the isotropic solution, conversely to the typical gel preparation protocol (gel formation upon cooling down the isotropic solution); (5) the formed organic gels are not thermoreversible in spite of the noncovalent interactions that hold the 3D-fibrillar network together.

A modular, one-pot, four-component synthesis of polysubstituted 1,3-oxazolidines.

A modular, one-pot, two-step, four-component synthesis of polysubstituted 1,3-oxzolidines is described. The method comprises two linked domino processes: an organocatalyzed domino reaction of alkyl propiolate and an aliphatic aldehydes and a microwave-assisted amine addition cyclization domino process. An alternative modular, one-pot, three-step, four-component synthesis has also been developed by linking the organocatalyzed domino process to a sequential amine addition/Yb(OTf)(3)-catalyzed enamine cyclization reaction.

Multicomponent domino processes based on the organocatalytic generation of conjugated acetylides: efficient synthetic manifolds for diversity-oriented molecular construction.

The organocatalytic generation of a strong base by the action of a good nucleophile is the base for the in situ catalytic generation of conjugated acetylides in the presence of aldehydes or activated ketones. The method is affordable in a multicomponent, domino format able to generate a chemically diverse set of multifunctionalized adducts that are very well suited for diversity-oriented molecular construction. The domino process involves a nucleophile as catalyst and a terminal conjugated alkyne (H-C[triple chemical bond]C-Z) and an aldehyde or activated ketone as building blocks. The chemical outcome of this process changes dramatically as a function of the nucleophile (tertiary amine or phosphine), temperature, stoichiometry, and solvent. These multicomponent domino processes achieve molecular construction with good atom economy and, very importantly, with an exquisite chemo-differentiating incorporation of identical starting units into the products (nondegenerated chemical output). These properties convert the H-C[triple chemical bond]C-Z unit into a specific building block for diversity-oriented molecular construction. Applications to the modular and diversity-oriented synthesis of relevant heterocycles are discussed. A protocol involving two coupled domino processes linked in a one-pot manner will be discussed as an efficient synthetic manifold for the modular and diversity-oriented construction of multisubstituted nitrogen-containing heterocycles.

Efficient domino process based on the catalytic generation of non-metalated, conjugated acetylides in the presence of aldehydes or activated ketones.

The extremely mild and highly efficient catalytic generation of non-metalated, conjugated acetylides is reported. These acetylides are used to generate enol-protected functionalized propargylic alcohols 1, 1,3-dioxolane compounds 2, or 3,4,5-trisubstituted 4,5-dihydrofurans 4 through serial multibond-forming processes. The method calls for a nucleophile (a tertiary amine or phosphine) as a chemical activator, a conjugated terminal acetylene as the acetylide source, and an aldehyde or activated ketone as the electrophilic partner. The chemical outcome of this process depends on the nature of the nucleophile, the temperature, stoichiometry and solvent, and it can be tailored selectively by the appropriate choice of the experimental conditions.

An effective one-pot synthesis of 5-substituted tetronic acids.

An expeditious one-pot synthesis of 5-substituted tetronic acids from aldehydes and terminal conjugated alkyne as starting materials is described. The entire process embodies two consecutive chemical events: a catalytic domino reaction to build the 1,3-dioxolane scaffolds 5 and a two-step acid-catalyzed trans-acetalization-lactonization reaction to furnish the tetronic acid derivatives 6.

A diversity-oriented strategy for the construction of tetrasubstituted pyrroles via coupled domino processes.

A new microwave-assisted rearrangement of 1,3-oxazolidines scaffolds is the basis for a new, metal-free, direct, and modular construction of tetrasubstituted pyrroles from terminal-conjugated alkynes, aldehydes, and primary amines. This new reaction manifold entails two linked domino processes in a one-pot manner with both atom- and bond-efficiency and under very simple and environment-friendly experimental conditions.