Flavin based supramolecular gel displaying multi-stimuli triggered sol-gel transition

Area of Science:

• Supramolecular Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Organic Chemistry

Background:

• Low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) are crucial for developing advanced functional materials.
• Flavin analogues offer unique photophysical and redox properties suitable for stimuli-responsive systems.
• Designing efficient LMWGs with minimal structural modifications remains a key challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and synthesize a novel amphiphilic flavin analogue as a robust LMWG.
• To evaluate the gelation capabilities and applicability of the synthesized flavin analogue.
• To investigate the stimuli-responsive behavior of the resulting gel.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of four flavin analogues with varying functional group positions.
• Gelation studies across a wide range of organic solvents.
• Characterization using morphological, photophysical, and rheological techniques.
• Investigation of sol-gel transitions induced by pH, redox activity, and metal ions (ferric/ferrous).

Main Results:

• An amphiphilic flavin analogue with antipodal carboxyl and octyl functionalities demonstrated highly efficient gelation (minimum gelation concentration of 0.03 M).
• The gel exhibited reversible sol-gel transitions in response to changes in pH and redox conditions.
• The material showed specific and well-defined sol-gel transitions in the presence of ferric ions, enabling differentiation between ferric and ferrous species.

Conclusions:

• A minimal structural modification of flavin leads to a robust and efficient low molecular weight gelator.
• The developed flavin-based gelator exhibits versatile stimuli-responsive properties, including pH, redox, and specific metal ion sensitivity.
• This redox-active flavin-based material holds promise for the development of next-generation responsive materials and sensors.