The Fabrication of Supramolecular Gel Based on Cholesterol‐Substituted Azobenzene and its Multiple Applications

Abstract A supramolecular low molecular weight organogelator (CNAZO) containing azobenzene and cholesterol units was synthesized, and its applications have been studied. The CNAZO gelator displays excellent gelation ability in six kinds of organic solvents with satisfactory transparency and lower critical gelation concentrations. Meanwhile, the chirality can be transferred from the cholesterol unit to the azobenzene group, which can be reversibly modulated through 365 nm UV light irradiation and heating‐cooling treatment. Compared with D‐limonene, CNAZO can form a stable organogel and exhibits obvious CD signals in the mixed solvent that containing L‐limonene, which can be used for chiral recognition of limonene. Owing to the phase‐selective ability and porous network structure, CNAZO can also be chosen for the separation and recovery of petrol from water and be utilized for rhodamine B (RhB) adsorption with removal efficiency (Re) of 99 %. These interesting insights indicated that the CNAZO gelator could be selected in the design of sensors and in environmental remediation fields.