Self‐assembled monolayers (SAMs) decorated with photoisomerizable azobenzene glycosides are useful tools for investigating the effect of ligand orientation on carbohydrate recognition. However, photoswitching of SAMs between two specific states is characterized by a limited capacity. The goal of this study is the improvement of photoswitchable azobenzene glyco‐SAMs. Different concepts, in particular self‐dilution and rigid biaryl backbones, have been investigated. The required SH‐functionalized azobenzene glycoconjugates were synthesized through a modular approach, and the respective glyco‐SAMs were fabricated on Au(111). Their photoswitching properties have been extensively investigated by applying a powerful set of methods (IRRAS, XPS, and NEXAFS). Indeed, the combination of tailor‐made biaryl‐azobenzene glycosides and suitable diluent molecules led to photoswitchable glyco‐SAMs with a significantly enhanced and unprecedented switching capacity.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.