Solvent-Polarity-Tuned Morphology and Inversion of Supramolecular Chirality in a Self-Assembled Pyridylpyrazole-Linked Glutamide Derivative: Nanofibers, Nanotwists, Nanotubes, and Microtubes

The self-assembly of a low-molecular-weight organogelator into various hierarchical structures has been achieved for a pyridylpyrazole linked L-glutamide amphiphile in different solvents. Upon gel formation, supramolecular chirality was observed, which exhibited an obvious dependence on the polarity of the solvent. Positive supramolecular chirality was obtained in nonpolar solvents, whereas it was inverted into negative supramolecular chirality in polar solvents. Moreover, the gelator molecules self-assembled into a diverse array of nanostructures over a wide scale range, from nanofibers to nanotubes and microtubes, depending on the solvent polarity. Such morphological changes could even occur for the xerogels in the solvent vapors. We found that the interactions between the pyridylpyrazole headgroups and the solvents could subtly change the stacking of the molecules and, hence, their self-assembled nanostructures. This work exemplifies that organic solvents can significantly involve the gelation, as well as tune the structure and properties, of a gel.