Triazole Linked N-acetylglucosamine Based Gelators for Crude Oil Separation and Dye Removal.

Abstract

Marine oil-spills have along-lasting impact on environment, therefore is a major concern in scientific community to find solution for its remediation. Recently, phase selective organo-gelators emerged as potential materials for removal of oil from water through selective gelation. Herein, we report synthesis of a series of C-6 triazole linked N-acetylglucosamine derivatives, among which three of the derivatives have shown excellent selective gelation of organic solvents, diesel, petrol and crude-oils in water and sea water. We have studied phase selective gelation against different API grade crude oils (from light to heavy) and the gelation was achieved using non-toxic carrier solvent at room temperature in less than 15 minutes, and gelators were found useful for recovering crude oils. Critical gel concentration (C.G.C.) of crude oil gelators was found to be 2.3-12% (w/v). The variable temperature NMR and FTIR experiments reveal that, intermolecular hydrogen bonding was responsible for the gel formation. Furthermore, a gelator was utilized for selective dye removal from water.