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Coinage Metal–Glutathione Thiolates as a New Class of Supramolecular Hydrogelators
Author(s) -
Odriozola Ibon,
Ormategui Nerea,
Loinaz Iraida,
Pomposo José A.,
Grande Hans J.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.200850618
Subject(s) - tripeptide , supramolecular chemistry , self healing hydrogels , glutathione , chemistry , metal , thiol , polymer chemistry , ligand (biochemistry) , combinatorial chemistry , organic chemistry , molecule , peptide , biochemistry , enzyme , receptor
Abstract Summary: Coinage metal salts (e.g. Au III , Ag I and Cu II salts) readily react with thiols to give the corresponding metal(I) thiolates. These thiolate species are known to either self‐assemble into insoluble polymeric species or to form soluble oligomers, depending on the nature of the thiol ligand. Here we demonstrate that this self‐assembling ability can be applied to create supramolecular hydrogels. Glutathione (GSH), a naturally occurring tripeptide, has been used in combination with Au III , Ag I and Cu II salts to obtain pH responsive hydrogels that are able to gelate 100 times their weight in water.