Amphiphilic
azobenzene molecules offer ample scope to design functional
supramolecular systems in an aqueous medium that can be controlled
by light. Despite their widespread applications in photopharmacology
and optoelectronics, the self-assembly pathways and energy landscapes
of these systems are not well understood. Here, we report combined
molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and surface manometry studies on
a specially designed alkylated, meta-substituted azobenzene derivative
to quantify the hydrogen-bonding interactions in the self-assembled
monolayers of its photoisomers. The z-density profile,
radial distribution function, order parameters, and hydrogen bond
analyzed using MD simulations corroborated the experimental observations
of changes in surface pressure, dipole moment, and thickness of the
monolayers. Even a small change in the number of hydrogen bonds in
the molecule–molecule and molecule–water interactions
causes significant changes in the monolayer properties. These results
are fundamentally important for engineering photoresponsive molecules
with tailored properties for applications in targeted drug delivery
and other industrial applications.