Abstract
N-acetyl-galactosamine appended amino acid esters, the new biomaterials are hydrogels formed through the supramolecular assembly in water. They consist of small molecule with hybrid structure. At one end, these molecules contain a polar moiety that is hydrophobic due to its favourable interaction with water and at the other end, two non-polar moieties forming a hydrophobic group are linked through an aminoacetate unit. These materials possess extremely high affinity towards water molecules, and thus the ability to form hydrogel at very low concentrations creating a dense network of nanofibres. This review summarises the combinatorial approach used for the synthesis of these novel materials, screening and optimization, and their applications.
Keywords: supramolecular polymers, xerogels, combinatorial synthesis, organogelators, hydrolysis