A Dithienylethene‐Based Rewritable Hydrogelator

Abstract

Dithienylethene photochromic switching units have been incorporated into a hydrogelating system based on a tripeptide motif. The resulting hybrid system provided both a photochromic response and the ability to gelate water under acidic and neutral conditions. Fluorescence spectroscopy shows that the dithienylethene units are in sufficient proximity to each other to stack in gel fibers, with the tripeptide unit determining solubility. TEM measurements provided insight into the microscopic structure of the fibers formed.

The Art of Building Small: From Molecular Switches to Motors (Nobel Lecture)

“…Fori nstance,b isamide-based gelators with diarylethene photoswitchable core units allowed modulation between several distinct gel states. [19,38] An intriguing aspect of these light-responsive gels is the observation of metastable aggregates that are formed in an on-invasive manner (in response to irradiation with light) setting astage for out-of-equilibrium assembly of soft materials.E mbedding intrinsic switching functions in supramolecular systems and macromolecules will likely provide fascinating opportunities for responsive mate- rials and smart surfaces for future applications such as drug delivery,cell growth or responsive coatings.…”

Light‐Responsive Arylazopyrazole Gelators: From Organic to Aqueous Media and from Supramolecular to Dynamic Covalent Chemistry

“…[39,40] Photoresponsive gelators have gained increasing attentioni nr ecent years. [41] LMWGs comprising coumarins, [42,43] spiropyrans, [44] stilbenes, [45,46] azobenzenes, [47,48] and dithienylethenes [49,50] were reported. Among them, azobenzenes are withoutd oubt the most investigated class of photoswitches.…”

A volumetric three-dimensional digital light photoactivatable dye display

“…Photoactivatable molecules2223242526 are central components of groundbreaking advances in super-resolution microscopy2728293031, data storage3233, molecular motors34353637 and photopharmacology3839404142. Several classes of photoactivatable molecules have been described, including diarylethenes4344, diarylazo compounds3345, spiropyran/merocyanines46, oxazines226, photocaged compounds253537474849, BF 2 -azo complexes5051 and spirolactam rhodamines2324525354. These molecules undergo a photochemical reaction to toggle between at least two different molecular states that can vary in shape, colour, fluorescence and other molecular properties.…”