Novel deoxycholic acid alkylamide-phenylurea-derived organogelators

Three monomeric and three dimeric deoxycholic acid (DCA) alkylamido-phenylurea derivatives are designed based on known gelators and are synthesized and characterized by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, ESI-TOF mass spectrometry, and elemental analyses. Among them, a monomeric derivative forms supramolecular gels in CHCl3 and chlorobenzene, whereas a dimeric derivative gels THF and higher 1-alkanols containing 7–10 carbons. The morphologies of their xerogels are studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). No signature of macroscopic chirality of the gels is visible.