A Novel Glucose/pH Responsive Low-Molecular-Weight Organogel of Easy Recycling

• Published in: Langmuir Vol. 29; no. 44; pp. 13568 - 13575
• Main Authors: Zhou, Chaoyu, Gao, Wenxia, Yang, Kaiwen, Xu, Long, Ding, Jinchang, Chen, Jiuxi, Liu, Miaochang, Huang, Xiaobo, Wang, Shun, Wu, Huayue
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 05-11-2013
• Subjects: Boronic Acids - chemistry; Chemistry; Chemistry Techniques, Analytical - instrumentation; Colloidal gels. Colloidal sols; Colloidal state and disperse state; Exact sciences and technology; Gels; General and physical chemistry; Glucose - analysis; Glucose - chemistry; Hydrogen Bonding; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Molecular Weight; pH; Glucose; Recycling; Molecular mass
• ISSN: 0743-7463; 1520-5827
• DOI: 10.1021/la4033578

A new phenylboronic acid based gelator was developed to prepare low-molecular-weight organogel (LMOG), which could interact with several solvents to assemble into a three-dimensional nanofiber network. 1H NMR spectroscopy study suggests that the driving force for the gelation includes hydrogen bonding and π–π stacking. Evaluated by UV-spectroscopy, the gel showed a prompt initial response to glucose at low concentration of 0.012 mmol/mL, which is a critical concentration of venous plasma glucose for diabetes. Significantly, this organogel exhibits excellent sensitivity to glucose among seven sugars tested (i.e., mannitol, galactose, lactose, maltose, sucrose, and fructose). The proposed formation of hydrogen-bonded complexes during the glucose sensing was supported by our energy calculation. Meanwhile, this organogel exhibits pH-response. Importantly, this LMOG could be conveniently recycled and thus be reused.