Mechanical Tuning of Aggregated States for Conformation Control of Cyclized Binaphthyl at the Air–Water Interface

An air–water interface enables molecular assemblies and conformations to be controlled according to their intrinsic interactions and anisotropic stimuli. The chirality and conformation of binaphthyl derivatives have been controlled by tuning molecular aggregated states in solution. In this study, we have tuned molecular aggregated states of monobinaphthyldurene (MBD) by applying different mechanical stimuli to control the conformation at the air–water interface. Density functional theory calculations indicate that MBD exists essentially in two conformations, namely, 1-MBD (most stable) and 2-MBD (less stable). MBD was mechanically dissolved in appropriate lipid matrices using the Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) method, while pure MBD was self-assembled at the dynamic air–water interface in the absence of or by applying vortex motions (vortex LB method). In MBD mixed monolayer, surface pressure–molecular area measurements and atomic force microscopy observations suggest that separate lipids and MBD phases transform to mixed phases induced by the dissolution of MBD into the lipid matrices during mechanical compression at the air–water interface. Circular dichroism measurements indicate that molecular conformation changes from 1-MBD to 2-MBD in passing from a separated phase to a mixed MBD/lipid phase. In addition, the molecular aggregated states and conformations of MBD depend on the spreading volume and vortex flow rate when applying the vortex LB method. Molecular conformations and aggregated states of MBD could be controlled continuously by applying a mechanical stimulus at the air–water interface.