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Photocontrol Over Self‐Assembled Nanostructures of π–π Stacked Dyes Supported by the Parallel Conformer of Diarylethene
Author(s) -
Yagai Shiki,
Iwai Kazunori,
Yamauchi Mitsuaki,
Karatsu Takashi,
Kitamura Akihide,
Uemura Shinobu,
Morimoto Masakazu,
Wang Hao,
Würthner Frank
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201310773
Subject(s) - photoisomerization , supramolecular chemistry , perylene , photochemistry , chemistry , diarylethene , conformational isomerism , nanostructure , self assembly , stacking , nanofiber , materials science , nanotechnology , photochromism , molecule , isomerization , organic chemistry , catalysis
Abstract Diarylethenes (DAEs) have rarely been used in the design of photoresponsive supramolecular assemblies with a well‐defined morphology transition owing to rather small structural changes upon photoisomerization. A supramolecular design based on the parallel conformation of DAEs enables the construction of photoresponsive dye assemblies that undergo remarkable nanomorphology transitions. The cooperative stacking of perylene bisimide (PBI) dyes was used to stabilize the parallel conformer of DAE through complementary hydrogen bonds. Atomic force microscopy, UV/Vis spectroscopy, and molecular modeling revealed that our DAE and PBI building blocks coassembled in nonpolar solvent to form well‐defined helical nanofibers featuring J‐type dimers of PBI dyes. Upon irradiating the coassembly solution with UV and visible light in turn, a reversible morphology change between nanofibers and nanoparticles was observed. This system involves the generation of a new self‐assembly pathway by means of photocontrol.