A novel chiral separation material: polymerized organogel formed by chiral gelators for the separation of D- and L-phenylalanine

N-Stearine-N'-stearyl-L-phenylalanine, a chiral compound, was synthesized and used as a gelator for the gelation of polymerizable solvents, such as beta-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), styrene, etc. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the gelator aggregates show fibril-like helices, typical chiral aggregates with diameters of 100-200 nm. The solvent molecules were immobilized by capillary forces in the three-dimensional network structures of the organogels. The HEMA organogels containing crosslinker polyethylene glycol dimethacrylates (PEG200DMA) were subsequently polymerized by in situ UV irradiation. A porous polymerized organogels were obtained after removal of gelator aggregates through ethanol extraction. The chiral separation of D- and L-phenylalanine was carried out by the adsorption of the polymerized organogels. The adsorption efficiency of L-phenylalanine on the polymerized organogels was found to be dependent on the concentration of the gelator and crosslinker. Copyright (C) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.