Gelation of perfluorinated liquids by N-alkyl perfluoroalkanamides.

Gels comprised of low-molecular-mass organic gelators (LMOGs), N-alkyl perfluoroalkanamides [F(CF2)(m)CONH(CH2)(n)H; FmNHn], and several perfluorinated liquids are described. The gelation ability of the amides has been compared to that of two analogous alkyl perfluoroalkanoates. The properties of these gels have been correlated with the N-alkyl and (to a lesser extent) perfluoroalkyl chain lengths in the FmNHn by X-ray diffraction, polarizing optical microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and small-angle neutron scattering.

N-alkyl perfluoroalkanamides as low molecular-mass organogelators.

A new class of low molecular-mass organogelators (LMOGs), N-alkyl perfluoroalkanamides, F(CF(2))(n)CONH(CH(2))(m)H, is described. The molecules are designed to exploit the incompatibilities of their three molecular parts, and the results demonstrate that this strategy can be used to tune molecular aggregation and gel stability. The gelating properties of these LMOGs have been examined in a wide variety of organic liquids (including alkanes, alcohols, toluene, n-perfluorooctane, CCl(4), and DMSO) as a function of the N-alkyl and perfluoroalkyl chain lengths by X-ray diffraction, polarizing optical microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS).