Solvent-induced Gel Formation Hypothesis for Natural Product Gelators with Polycyclic Structures
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Updated: Dec 30, 2025
Thermal Scanning Conductometry TSC as a General Method for Studying and Controlling the Phase Behavior of Conductive Physical Gels
Published on: January 23, 2018
Kangkang Zhi1, Haitian Zhao1, Xin Yang1
1School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 92 West Dazhi Street,Nan Gang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, 150001.
Abstract:
Natural products have long been used as pharmaceutical actives for the treatment of diseases. More recently, natural products with the ability to self-assemble to form soft material-gels, i.e. natural product gelators (NPGs), were discovered. This subverts our traditional insight into natural products as drugs and drives us to elucidate how NPGs form gels. Here, we interpret "why gel" from the perspective of solvents based on the basic theory of thermodynamics for liquids, and then propose the hypothesis of solvent-induced gel formation in combination with the NPGs with polycyclic structures. This hypothesis provides a complete explanation of how the gelator and solvent play a role in the overall gel formation and helps us to more easily understand the gelation.
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