Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 1089–1095.
sodium hydroxide, N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC), stirred at room temperature for 24 h. The solvent was evapo-
4
-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP), all were purchased from rated under vacuum. The product was purified by column chro-
Sigma-Aldrich Chemicals (Shanghai, China). Other used matography over silica gel eluting with pure CH2Cl2, yield
reagents were commercially available and were distilled before 70%. Related compounds (M2, M3, M5, M6, M10, M12) were
ultilized in this study was described elsewhere [28].
Gelation test
General measurements
The potential gelator (25 mg) in solvent (1 mL) was placed in a
NMR spectra were recorded with a Bruker-400 NMR spectrom- sealed test tube and the solution was heated in a water bath until
eter. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements were the solid was dissolved completely. The solution was cooled to
carried out on a Rigaku D/max 2500PC (Japan)-type single- room temperature. If the gelator formed a gel at this stage, it
crystal diffractometer using Cu Kα radiation to determine the was classified as “G”. When the solution remained all the time,
crystal structure. Infrared spectroscopy (IR) was measured on a they were referred to as solutions (S). The hot clear solution
Nicolet 6700 spectrometer from 4000 to 500 cm−1 at room systems, which precipitated when they are cooled down to room
temperature. The samples were prepared as KBr pellets. The temperature, are donated as P (precipitation), respectively.
morphology of the gel samples were examined by scanning Insoluble systems in which the potential gelator could not be
electron microscopy (SEM, S5200, FEI Company) under an dissolved even at the boiling point of the solvent were desig-
acceleration voltage of 30 kV. UV–vis absorption spectra were nated as insoluble (I).
recorded using a spectrophotometer (UV-3600, Shimadzu,
Japan). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was carried out Conclusion
on a thermal analysis (TA) DSC-Q30 in nitrogen at a heating In summary, we have synthesized seven cholesterol-based com-
rate of 10 K/min.
pounds with azobenzene groups. The compounds with different
flexible alkyl spacers containing two, three, five, six, ten, or
twelve carbon atoms are denoted as M2–M12, respectively.
Synthetic procedures
(
m2) was synthesized similar to a previous report [29]. Choles- typical reversible trans–cis and cis–trans change due to the
terol 15.00 g (38 mmol) in dry dichloromethane (225 mL) and photo-isomerization of the azobenzene units. They possess
dry triethylamine (16.50 mL), p-tosyl chloride 10.35 g recoverable photoresponsive properties. Their thermal phase
(
54 mmol) was added. A catalytic amount of DMAP was also behaviors have been investigated by DSC, indicating good
added. The reaction mixture was then allowed to stir at 48 °C liquid crystal properties. The dramatic change in the gelation
for 12 h. The reaction mixture was washed sequentially with behavior was produced by the different spacer lengths between
diluted HCl aqueous solution, saturated brine solution, and cholesteryl and azobenzene. Compound M6 is the only good
water. The organic phase was dried over anhydrous Na2SO4. gelator that can gelate in ethanol, isopropanol and 1-butanol.
The solvents were removed by vacuum evaporation and re- Based on the results of SEM, IR and XRD, it demonstrated that
crystallized using chloroform and methanol. The residue (7.0 g, the solvents, intermolecular H-bonding, and van der Waals
1
3 mmol) was dissolved in anhydrous dioxane (60 mL) and dry interaction affected the aggregation mode and morphology of
ethylene glycol (20 g, 0.32 mol) was added. The mixture was gels. These results can be applied in fields of design and devel-
refluxed at 110 °C for 4 h. The solution was cooled and solvent opment of novel organogelators and soft matter.
was removed under vacuum. The white residue was dissolved in
chloroform. The organic layer washed with NaHCO3, water,
Supporting Information
and brine; and dried over anhydrous Na2SO4. Finally, the pro-
duct was purified by column chromatography over silica gel
Supporting Information File 1
eluting with petroleum ether/ethyl acetate to yield 90% of m2.
The procedure used for the preparation of m3, m5, m6, m10,
and m12 are similar to that for m2.
4-Methoxy-4’-((cholesteryloxy)carbonyl)azo-
benzene (M0)
Acknowledgements
A mixture of 4'-carboxy-4-methoxyazobenzene (0.25 g, The work was financially supported by the Program for Scien-
1
1
0 mmol), cholesterol (0.38 g, 1 mmol), and DCC (0.21 g, tific and Technological Innovative Team in Sichuan Provincial
mmol), DMAP (0.06 g, 0.5 mmol) in 25 mL CH2Cl2 was Universities of China (2010008), Key Project of Natural
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