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Spirofluorene‐cored bis(difluoroboron β‐diketonate) complexes bearing terminal carbazoles (CbzBSF) and tert‐butylcarbazoles (TCbzBSF) have been synthesized. It was found that only TCbzBSF could form organogels in cyclohexane and methylcyclohexane, suggesting that tert‐butylcarbazole was essential for its organogelation directed by weak π–π interactions. It is worth noting that TCbzBSF could entrap ca. 5800 molecules of methylcyclohexane per gelator molecule, so this fully conjugated complex without traditional gelation group could be considered as a supergelator. The gained organogel showed reversible thixotropic and temperature‐dependent sol‐gel transitions. In particular, the orange red fluorescence of the xerogel‐based film of TCbzBSF could be quenched when exposed to gaseous aromatic amines of aniline, N‐methylaniline, and N,N‐dimethylaniline. The detection limit for aniline vapor of the xerogel‐based film was as low as 0.56 ppb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel luminescent organogelators based on nucleoside functionalized with carbazole (UC8, UC12 and UC16) were designed and synthesized. Their gelation ability was tested and it was found that both UC12 and UC16 could form stable organogels in toluene/petroleum ether. The UV-vis absorption, fluorescence emission and IR spectral changes during the gelation of UC12 proved that the self-assembly was driven by H- bonding. The morphology of the xerogel UC16 obtained from toluene/petroleum ether (v/v = 1/1) displayed tough rod-like microstructures, and 3D networks formed from lots of nanofibers were observed for the xerogel UC16 obtained from toluene/petroleum ether (v/v = 2/1). It was interesting that the obtained organogels emitting blue light could be destroyed by the addition of F-, accompanied with the declining the emission intensity. Therefore, these organogels could be used as sensory materials to recognize F-. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have synthesized a series of new β-iminoenolates and their corresponding difluoroboron complexes without any traditional gelation moieties, and some of them were able to gelatinize organic solvents. It was found that the presence of halogen atoms as substituents had a significant effect on gelation ability. In particular, bromo-containing compounds 4 A and 4 B exhibited excellent gelation abilities compared with other halogen-substituted gelators. By analyses of the single-crystal structure, the PXRD pattern of the xerogel, and electronic spectral changes during gelation, we deemed that π-π, C−H⋅⋅⋅F, and C−H⋅⋅⋅Br interactions were the driving forces for the gelation of 4 B. Interestingly, ( Z)-1-(4-bromophenyl)-2-(3-methylpyrazin-2-yl)ethen-1-ol ( 8 A), prepared in this work, is the lowest-molecular-weight organogelator to have been reported. It should be noted that although β-iminoenolates 3 A- 5 A are nonemissive in solution, they emit strong yellow light in organogels, which suggests aggregation-induced emissive activity, whereas the difluoroboron complexes 3 B- 5 B show strong fluorescence in solutions, organogels, and xerogel-based films. Moreover, we found that the emission of 4 B in a nanofiber-based film could be quenched significantly upon exposure to gaseous trifluoroacetic acid and that the decay time and detection limit were 0.5 s and 0.17 ppm, respectively. Thus, through this work we have provided a new strategy for the design of nontraditional π gelators by introducing halogen atoms into π-conjugated systems with moderate polarities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]