Synthesis and self-assembly of novel hydrazide derivatives containing multi-alkoxy chains with different lengths

We report on the synthesis and self-assembly of two novel types of hydrazide derivatives, e.g. 1,4-bis[(3,4,5-trialkoxyphenyl)-dihydrazide]-2,5-diethylphthalate (C-Tn, n = 7, 10, 12 and 16) and N’,N’-bis[3,4,5-tris(dodecyloxy)benzamido]-pyromellitic diimide (BI-C-T12). They were confirmed to exhibit strong gelation ability in several apolar organic solvents, such as benzene, 1,2-dichloroethane and chloroform. SEM images of the xerogels revealed that the gels consist of twist fibrous aggregates. Both FT-IR and 1H NMR studies confirmed that the intermolecular hydrogen bonding and van der Waals interactions were the major driving forces for the self-assembly of the molecules during gelling.