Open chain pseudopeptides as hydrogelators with reversible and dynamic responsiveness to pH, temperature and sonication as vehicles for controlled drug delivery

Abstract

A new family of open chain-pseudopeptidic compounds displaying a pendant carboxylic group have been prepared with excellent yields. Their self-assembly has been studied under different conditions and in different media. Some of the compounds obtained have revealed to act as very efficient hydrogelators at low concentrations (CGC 1 mg mL−1). The resulting hydrogels show some interesting properties, including a high thermal stability, with the hydrogels maintaining their structure at temperatures above 65 °C, and their reversible dynamic sol–gel behavior being responsive to thermal and sonochemical inputs and to changes in the basic/acidic properties of the medium. Preliminary studies for controlled drug delivery have been carried out using a Franz Cell and employing a skin pig membrane, confirming that these Low Molecular Weight Gelators (LMWGs) can be appropriate vehicles for the controlled transdermal delivery of small-molecule drugs.