Gemini Surfactants as New, Low Molecular Weight Gelators of Organic Solvents and Water.

As many as 1200 solvent molecules can be entrapped by one molecule of the cationic dimeric surfactants 1 to form a gel in CHCl3 . These new gelators contain chiral counterions and form gels with both organic solvents and water upon their assembly into helical aggregates, which have similar structures in both media.