Effect of chain length on the gelation ability of biphenyl-cholesterol derivatives

CHED 811

Magdalene Assimon, Paul Weismann, and Cristina Geiger. Chemistry, SUNY-Geneseo, 1 College Circle, Geneseo, NY 14454
We have synthesized a series of biphenyl-cholesterol derivatives connected by a flexible chain with different numbers of methylene units. The effect of the chain length on the ability to form gels in various organic solvents has been investigated. The most stable gels are formed in octanol. The aggregation of these gels has been studied by analysis of the emission and absorption spectra of the gels and comparison with their emission and absorption spectra in dilute solutions. We have attempted to correlate the structures of the gelators with the nature of the aggregates formed using the molecular modeling techniques available in Spartan 04.