Abstracto

"Green" Organogelators: Design and Applications

Bruna Gioia, Nesrine Ben Ghalia and Plamen Kirilov

In this review, we survey sustainable approaches, which are encountered in the development of “green” organogelators. These molecules, Low Molecular Weight Organogelators (LMOG), are of increasing interest as precursors of solid-like supra-molecular materials. Nowadays, the development of organogelators is moving towards the rational design of smarter molecules with more functionality. Some of these have been exploited in environmental applications like water purification. Biodegradability and biocompatibility of green gelators have found interest as drug delivery systems like in-situ forming implants. These molecules have often been synthetized from renewable raw materials, using sometimes efficient solvent-free approaches. To the best of our knowledge, there is a lack of synthetic work about organogelators development in the field of the green chemistry. In that sense, we first tried to document the challenging design of green organogelators starting with natural readily available materials, and then illustrate some benign synthetic reactions. Secondly, we highlight the applications of organogelators as biodegradable and eco-friendly materials. Finally, we conclude with a short discussion of the future perspectives and remaining challenges in the development of these gelling molecules as sustainable solutions.