Self-Assembly of a Pyridyl Derivative and its Silver Complex: Formation of a Liquid Crystalline Phase and Organogels

Abstract

Self-assembling behavior of N,N′-didodecyl-3,5-pyridinedicarboxamide and its silver complex has been studied. They act as gelators in solution and gelate a variety of organic solvents. Though the silver complex exhibits lower gelation abilities for halogenated and aromatic solvents, long-term stability is achieved for ethanol and acetone gels. Moreover, the silver complex exhibits a smectic A phase on cooling while a single component of N,N′-didodecyl-3,5-pyridinedicarboxamide exhibits no mesomorphic behavior. The XRD pattern for the complex shows that the layer spacing of the S_A phase is 37 A˚.

Keywords:

• hydrogen bonding
• liquid crystal
• metal coordination
• organogel
• pyridine derivative
• self-assembly

Acknowledgments

Partial financial support of Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas, “Dynamic Control of Strongly Correlated Soft Materials” (No. 413/13031009) (T.K.) and The 21st Century COE Program for Frontiers in Fundamental Chemistry (T.K.) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is gratefully acknowledged. K.Y. is thankful for financial support by the Research Fellowships of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) for Young Scientists.

Notes

^a Minimum gel concentrations are in parentheses (given in g L⁻¹). The following abbreviations are used: C, crystallization; I, insoluble; S, solution; G, gel.

^b Gelation occurred below room temperature.

^†Present address: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Tokyo University of Science, Yamaguchi, Onoda-shi, Yamaguchi 756-0884, Japan.