Cover Picture: Design and Application of Self‐Assembled Low Molecular Weight Hydrogels (Eur. J. Org. Chem. 17/2005)

The cover picture shows a transmission electron micrograph revealing the three-dimensional entangled network of fibers found in aqueous solutions of a bis-urea cyclohexane hydrogelator. What these and many other low molecular weight hydrogelators have in common is that they effectively self-assemble into elongated fibers, which in turn form a three-dimensional network that leads to the formation of a gel. The reversible formation of these gels and their unique visco-elastic properties are currently attracting much interest because of potential applications in, for example, drug delivery, and because the supramolecular chemical approach towards the design of novel hydrogelators has led to gels with tailor-made properties. The recent developments in this rapidly emerging field of research are discussed in the Microreview by M. de Loos, B. L. Feringa, and J. H. van Esch on p. 3615 ff.