Cation Tuning toward the Inference of the Gelation Behavior of Supramolecular Gels.

We serendipitously discovered that the tripeptide Asp-Phe-Phe trifluoroacetic acid salt (hereafter abbreviated as β-AspFF) formed a reversible thermotropic gel in chloroform solution (at temperatures higher than the boiling point of chloroform), and a stable gel in toluene solution (at equal to or lower than the room temperature). Experimental results indicate that doping metal ions into β-AspFF toluene gels can trigger morphological variations in the gel skeleton, thereby increasing gel volume and inducing the collapse of organogels. Investigation on the cation-tuned gelation behavior of β-AspFF can be used to elucidate heating-induced gel collapse (of normal gel) or reverse thermotropic gelation as well as select carbamide and acetamide as activators of β-AspFF gels in chloroform solution at room temperature.