Glycosylated Diarylmethyloxy-Triazines: Facile Synthesis and Aqueous Self-Assembly for Supramolecular Hydrogel Formation

Glycosylated self-assembling molecules enable the construction of nanostructures whose surfaces are decorated with saccharides under aqueous conditions, reminiscent of biological systems at both the molecular and cellular levels. Such glyco-nanostructures thus hold great promise as soft materials for biological applications. Herein, we report the facile synthesis of glycosylated diarylmethyloxy-triazines, which serve as new building blocks for fabricating self-assembled nanostructures in aqueous media and forming supramolecular hydrogels. The triazine scaffold enables the protecting-group-free synthesis of glycosylated compounds with reasonable β-anomer selectivity. Notably, both the substituents on the aryl groups attached to the triazine core and the geometry of the glycosidic linkages in the disaccharides strongly influence the hydrogelation behavior.