Visible-light responsive hydrogen-bonded supramolecular polymers based on ortho-tetrafluorinated azobenzene

Abstract

Visible-light responsive hydrogen-bonded supramolecular polymers have been fabricated, whose properties could be regulated through the visible-light-triggered photoisomerization of the ortho-tetrafluorinated azobenzene.

Metallacycle-Cored Supramolecular Polymers: Fluorescence Tuning by Variation of Substituents

“…1 Due to the involvement of non- covalent interactions, they possess good structural versatility and stimuli-driven responsiveness towards microenvironment changes, such as pH, 2 temperature, 3 pressure 4 , and light illumination. 5 In addition, they inherit the emission characteristics originating from the chromophores incorporated into the polymer, resulting in widespread applications as self-healing materials, 6 chemical sensors 7 , light-emitting materials, 8 etc. Generally, the properties of fluorescent supramolecular polymers are dependent on the fluorophore installed on the building blocks and the nature of the non-covalent interactions which tailor the connection of those building blocks.…”

Photo‐Modulating Multicolor Photoluminescence Including White‐Light Emission from a Photochromic Copolymer

“…Among various organic compounds, azobenzene, diarylethenes, and spiropyran, as photochromic molecules that have perfect modification and fatigue resistance, can be stimulated by light or electricity to convert their physical properties between two states . For example, a photochromic ortho‐tetrafluorinated azobenzene (TFAB) has been used as a linear molecule in hydrogen‐bonded supramolecular polymers to achieve reversible gel–sol transformation behavior induced by visible light, and used as dielectric super‐lattice structures to realize high‐performance electronics . Besides, our group has previously conducted some researches in the field of photochromism .…”

A pH‐Switchable Triple Hydrogen‐Bonding Motif

“…Self‐sorting systems using weaker interactions, such as hydrogen‐bonding set within the context of linear arrays of donors ( D ) and acceptors ( A ) in hydrogen‐bonding motifs (HBMs), have received less attention. The absence of HBMs from the toolkit of supramolecular synthons used to generate systems which can transition between different self‐sorted configurations arises because: (i) the requirements for high‐fidelity recognition may seem at odds with the need for promiscuous recognition required for transition between different self‐sorted states, (ii) HBMs that change recognition behavior in response to stimuli are sparse . Previously, our group demonstrated that a selection of HBMs could be used to create systems where successive addition of components changed the self‐sorted configuration (where at least one component exhibits promiscuous, and other components, selective recognition behavior), leading upon introduction of further components, to a self‐sorting network .…”