Supramolecular hydrogels prepared from fluorescent alkyl pyridinium acrylamide monomers and CB[8]

We introduce a new facile synthetic methodology for the preparation of alkyl pyridinium-containing acrylamide monomers. Inclusion complexes of these new monomers with CB[8] facilitate supramolecular crosslinking in a series of hydrogels formed through in situ polymerisation. The resulting hydrogels not only show greatly enhanced mechanical properties over a purely acrylamide-based gel, but also by selecting fluorescent pyridine moieties, the materials are endowed with the fluorescence properties desirable for several sensing applications.

Automated summary

A new synthetic methodology for alkyl pyridinium-containing acrylamide monomers was introduced, which can form inclusion complexes with CB[8] to facilitate supramolecular crosslinking in hydrogels. The resulting hydrogels exhibit greatly enhanced mechanical properties and fluorescence properties desirable for sensing applications by selecting fluorescent pyridine moieties.