Tunable Water‐Soluble Supramolecular Polymers by Visible‐Light‐Regulated Host–Guest Interactions

• Published in: Chemistry, an Asian journal Vol. 13; no. 19; pp. 2818 - 2823
• Main Authors: Jin, Ting‐Ting, Zhou, Xiao‐He, Yin, Yong‐Fei, Zhan, Tian‐Guang, Cui, Jiecheng, Liu, Li‐Juan, Kong, Li‐Chun, Zhang, Kang‐Da
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 04.10.2018
• Subjects: azobenzenes; Biological materials; Chemistry; cucurbituril; Depolymerization; Fluorination; host–guest interaction; Light irradiation; Monomers; Polymers; Supramolecular polymers; visible-light response; supramolecular polymers; cucurbituril; host-guest interaction; azobenzenes; visible-light response
• ISSN: 1861-4728; 1861-471X
• DOI: 10.1002/asia.201800982

The development of artificial self‐assembling systems with dynamic photo‐regulation features in aqueous solutions has drawn great attention owing to the potential applications in fabricating elaborate biological materials. Here we demonstrate the fabrication of water‐soluble cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8])‐mediated supramolecular polymers by connecting the fluorinated azobenzene (FAB) containing monomers through host‐enhanced heteroternary π–π stacking interactions. Benefiting from the unique visible‐light‐induced E→Z photoisomerization of the FAB photochromophores, the encapsulation behaviors between the CB[8] macrocycle and the monomers could be regulated upon visible light irradiation, resulting in the depolymerization of such CB[8]‐mediated supramolecular polymers. Water‐soluble CB[8]‐mediated supramolecular polymers were fabricated from a fluorinated azobenzene‐containing monomer, which exhibits novel visible‐light‐regulated depolymerization behaviors.