Ultralow‐Molecular‐Weight Stimuli‐Responsive and Multifunctional Supramolecular Gels Based on Monomers and Trimers of Hydrazides

Abstract The simpler, the better. A series of simple, neutral and ultralow‐molecular‐weight (MW: 140–200) hydrazide‐derived supramolecular gelators have been designed and synthesized in two straightforward steps. For non‐conjugated cyclohexane‐derived hydrazides, their monomers can self‐assemble to form gels through intermolecular hydrogen bonds and dipole‐dipole interactions. Significantly, conjugated phthalhydrazide can self‐aggregate into planar and circular trimers through intermolecular hydrogen bonds and then self‐assemble to form gels through intermolecular π–π stacking interactions. It is interesting that these simple gelators exhibit unusual properties, such as self‐healing, multi‐response fluorescence, and visual and selective recognition of chiral ( R )/( S )‐1,1′‐binaphthalene‐2,2′‐diamine and S 2− through much different times of gel re‐formation and blue‐green color change, respectively. These results underline the importance of supramolecular gels and extend the scope of supramolecular gelators.