抄録
Stimuli–responsive gels that undergo changes in the volume in response to environmental changes have attracted much attention as smart membrane materials for sensors, drug delivery systems and other applications. We proposed a novel strategy for designing molecularly stimuli–responsive gels, “molecule–responsive gels”, which exhibit structural changes in response to a target molecule. Based on the strategy using molecular complexes as dynamic crosslinks that reversibly associate and dissociate in response to a target molecule, two types of molecule-responsive gels have been developed; “biomolecule–crosslinked gel” and “molecule–imprinted gel”. The biomoleculecrosslinked gels swell and molecule-imprinted gels shrink in the presence of a target molecule because their crosslink densities change by dissociation and association of molecular complexes as dynamic crosslinks. This review describes rational designs of molecularly stimuli–responsive gels that swell or shrink in response to a target molecule such as glucose, antigen, tumor marker and endocrine disrupting chemicals.
