Self assembly and gelation in solutions of chiral N-trifluoroacetylated α-aminoalcohols

The low molecular weight (Mr∼200 Da) chiral N-trifluoroacetylated α-aminoalcohols (TFAAAs) are able for gelate various organic solvents and water in very low concentrations (∼10-3 M). The gelation was not observed in the racemic solutions or solution of achiral TFAAA. The gelation is temperature-reversible and demonstrates the memory effect. The gel scaffold is composed of thin supramolecular elements (strings) having a helical structure. The thinnest (elementary) strings have a crystalline, highly ordered structure and braid together to form thicker elements. The sign of the helicity changes with the growing of the strings in course of the gelation process, so that the thicker strings have the opposite helicity as compared to thinner ones. We provide a theoretical description of the strings growing process.