Objective      To synthesize the N-tetradecanoyl

N-hexadecanoyl and N-octadecanoyl alanine methyl ester gelators and investigate their gelation ability.       Methods      N-tetradecanoyl

N-hexadecanoyl and N-octadecanoyl alanine methyl ester gelators were synthesized using alanine methyl ester

N-tetradecanoyl chloride

N-hexadecanoyl chloride and N-octadecanoyl chloride. Chemical structures of the gelators were confirmed by MS

IR

and

1

H-NMR

respectively. Gelation ability of different solvents，temperatures and chain lengths was studied.       Results      The synthesized N-tetradecanoyl

N-hexadecanoyl and N-octadecanoyl alanine methyl ester gelators could produce gel in many organic solvents.

Their minimum gel concentration in soybean oil and  medium chain triglycerides(MCT) was 11.9

7.2

8.5 mg/ml and 18.7

12.3

13.4 mg/ml

respectively

and their enthalpy (ΔH) in soybean oil was 74.741

51.70 kJ/mol and 61.61 kJ/mol

respectively.       Conclusion      The synthesized N-tetradecanoyl

N-hexadecanoyl and N-octadecanoyl alanine methyl ester gelators have a good gelation ability

and can thus be used as a local long-acting drug carrier.