D-Sorbitol, a structurally simple, low molecular-mass gelator

A comprehensive examination of the ethanol gels produced with D-sorbitol, one of the simplest and lowest mass organogelator molecules known, is reported. Data from several spectroscopic and structural experiments reveal that the nature of the self-assembled fibrillar assemblies, spherulites for the most part, depends acutely on the manner in which the sol phase is treated. The critical concentration to form a gel at room temperature is ca. 1.5 wt% and a plateau value for melting the gels, ca. 50 degrees C, is reached near 3.5 wt%. Ostwald ripening, whose rate, again, depends on the history of the preparation, was also observed.