Room temperature metallogelation for a simple series of aminothiazole ligands with potential applications in identifying and scavenging mercury ions†
Abstract
A new class of aminothiazole based metallogels of mercury have been synthesized and characterized using various physico-chemical techniques. The coordination polymer of 2-amino-4-methylthiazole (1b) with Hg(OAc)2 demonstrated room temperature gelation of water along with thixotropic behaviour. The metallogels of 1a–Hg(OAc)2 and 1b–Hg(OAc)2 showed promising application for the removal and visual detection of mercury in contaminated water. The role of the methyl proton in controlling and inducing the gelation behaviour is discussed.