Supramolecular Synthon Approach in Designing Molecular Gels for Advanced Therapeutics

Low‐molecular‐weight gelators (LMWGs) are an important class of soft materials that offer various potential applications including drug delivery. Structural diversities of the reported LMWGs and lack of molecular‐level understanding of the self‐assembly process of gelation make it difficult to design a gelator a priori. Most often gelators are discovered in a serendipitous manner and second‐generation gelators are designed by modifying known gelling scaffolds. Since gel network within which the solvent molecules are immobilized is often found to be crystalline, a supramolecular synthon approach in the context of crystal engineering is demonstrated to be quite effective in designing LMWGs for various applications including therapeutics. Self‐drug‐delivery systems, wherein the need for a delivery vehicle does not exist, are becoming an effective alternative to conventional drug delivery systems. In the form of a simple gel (for non‐invasive topical application) or injectable gel (for invasive subcutaneous applications), LMWGs derived from drugs provide an effective way to develop self‐drug‐delivery systems. This review article encompasses the early development of LMWG research, describes gradual transition from discovering just a gelator to a gelator having potential material applications including drug delivery, and highlights the merit of supramolecular synthon approach in designing LMWGs for self‐drug‐delivery applications.