Arjunolic acid: A promising new building block for nanochemistry

Arjuriolic acid, the major extractable constituent of the heavy wood of Terminialia Arjuna, has the potential to be used as a rigid mid functional molecular framework for the construction of nanosized supramolecular architectures and nanomaterials. The nanosized triterpenoid, arjunolic acid, showed efficient gelation of various organic solvents at low concentrators. The low molecular mass gelator molecules self-assembled in the solvents to form fibers of nanometer diameters. The movement, of the solvent molecules was hindered inside the fibrous network leading to the formation of a gel.