Self-assembly and hydrogelation from multicomponent coassembly of pentafluorobenzyl-phenylalanine and pentafluorobenzyl-diphenylalanine

To screen the possibility of forming self-assembled hydrogels under physiological pH, various molar ratios of the hydrogelators based on pentafluorobenzyl-phenylalanine (PFB-F) and pentafluorobenzyl-diphenylalanine (PFB-FF) were studied. The equimolar ratio of PFB-F and PFB-FF formed coassembled nanofibers and a self-supporting hydrogel at the physiological pH of 7.4. The spectroscopic characterization of the blend gel indicates that pi-pi interactions and hydrogen-bonding interactions are the major driving forces behind the coassembly. In addition, we also prove that the blend hydrogel is biocompatible, thus making it a scaffolding material for biomedical applications. In this work, the utility of two distinct hydrogelators to promote coassembly under physiological condition expands the repertoire of noncovalent interactions that can be used in the development of sophisticated noncovalent biomaterials.