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Phase behavior and electron transfer properties of ferrocenyl cholesteryl N-formanidoformamide gelator: a computational study

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Abstract

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were carried out to investigate the conformations of a ferrocenyl cholesteryl N-formanidoformamide (Fc-LS) gelator in methanol and 1-pentanol. Our results showed that Fc-LS molecules form a gel in 1-pentanol, but not in methanol. In the Fc-LS/methanol system, Fc-LS molecules aggregated into clusters stabilized by intermolecular hydrogen bonds. In the Fc-LS/1-pentanol system, the Fc-LS molecules dispersed uniformly in the solvent; in addition, the solvent molecules gathered around the Fc-LS molecules. Calculation of diffusion coefficients showed that the Fc-LS/1-pentanol system behaves like a gel over a wide range of temperatures, while the Fc-LS/methanol system behaves more like a liquid. Charge-transfer properties of the Fc-LS/methanol and Fc-LS/1-pentanol systems were also investigated by quantum mechanical (QM) calculations. The results indicated that the electron transfer integrals of the Fc-LS/1-pentanol system are larger than those of the Fc-LS/methanol system. This suggests that the former is a favorable system for electron transport. Finally, our study demonstrated that the combination of MD and QM represents an effective approach to investigate conductive-gel systems.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the National Science Council, Taiwan, Republic of China for financially supporting this research under Contract (NSC 101-2113-M-110-009-MY3)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, National Sun Yat-Sen University, No. 70, Lienhai Road, Kaohsiung City, 80424, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Po-Hsiang Chuang, Yu-Hui Tseng, Qirui Gu & Cheng-Lung Chen

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  1. Po-Hsiang Chuang
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  2. Yu-Hui Tseng
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  3. Qirui Gu
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Correspondence to Cheng-Lung Chen.

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Chuang, PH., Tseng, YH., Gu, Q. et al. Phase behavior and electron transfer properties of ferrocenyl cholesteryl N-formanidoformamide gelator: a computational study. Colloid Polym Sci 293, 2113–2119 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-015-3604-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-015-3604-x

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