New sugar-based gelators for organic liquids

Two N-alkyl-lactosilamines and two N-alkyl-glucosylamines were synthesized. They constitute the first example of amino-sugars gelators for various organic liquids. Their gelation ability was investigated and the gel-to-sol transition temperature was determined. SEM observation of the xerogels showed that in most cases the gelators form a three-dimensional network with frizzled fibrils with shapes and dimensions depending upon the nature of the solvent used.