Chemistry - A European Journal
Chemistry - A European Journal
5 years ago

Phototransformative Supramolecular Assembly of Amphiphilic Diarylethenes Realized by a Combination of Photochromism and Lower Critical Solution Temperature Behavior

Phototransformative Supramolecular Assembly of Amphiphilic Diarylethenes Realized by a Combination of Photochromism and Lower Critical Solution Temperature Behavior
Kenji Matsuda, Yasuteru Shigeta, Ryuma Sato, Kenji Higashiguchi, Hajime Yotsuji
Amphiphilic diarylethenes bearing octyloxycarbonyl and N-octylcarbamoyl groups have been designed and synthesized. These ester- and amide-linked compounds form micrometer-sized supramolecular assemblies in water, and these assemblies exhibit photoinduced macroscopic morphological transformations upon alternate irradiation with UV and visible light. The ester-linked diarylethene showed a transformation between colorless spheres and a red-purple hazy fringe, whereas the microspheres of the amide-linked diarylethene showed changes in color, size, and shape, but the spheres did not show division. TEM images revealed that the spheres of the open-ring isomers have coacervate structures, with bicontinuous aqueous and organic phases. The closed-ring isomers of the ester- and amide-linked compounds were found to form nanofibers and thin layers, respectively. These compounds showed absorption spectral shifts at temperatures corresponding to the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) transition. This morphological transformation can be rationalized as the photoinduced phase transition between the high- and low-temperature phases of the LCST transition. These results open up a new avenue for the design of phototransformative supramolecular assemblies based on a combination of photochromism and LCST behavior. Photoinduced morphology change: Amphiphilic diarylethenes with ester and amide linkers form supramolecular assemblies, and these assemblies exhibit photoinduced macroscopic morphological transformations (see figure). The closed-ring isomers have been found to form nanofibers and thin layers for the ester- and amide-linked compounds, respectively.

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1002/chem.201702202

You might also like
Discover & Discuss Important Research

Keeping up-to-date with research can feel impossible, with papers being published faster than you'll ever be able to read them. That's where Researcher comes in: we're simplifying discovery and making important discussions happen. With over 19,000 sources, including peer-reviewed journals, preprints, blogs, universities, podcasts and Live events across 10 research areas, you'll never miss what's important to you. It's like social media, but better. Oh, and we should mention - it's free.

  • Download from Google Play
  • Download from App Store
  • Download from AppInChina

Researcher displays publicly available abstracts and doesn’t host any full article content. If the content is open access, we will direct clicks from the abstracts to the publisher website and display the PDF copy on our platform. Clicks to view the full text will be directed to the publisher website, where only users with subscriptions or access through their institution are able to view the full article.