Synergistic activation of photoswitchable supramolecular assembly based on sulfonated crown ether and dithienylethene derivative

Conformational regulation among two or more distant sites is not only one of the main pathways to accomplish multiple tasks in complex biological systems but also represents a powerful strategy to obtain stimuli-responsive supramolecular nanoconstructs with tailored physicochemical performance. We herein report the fabrication of a photochromic supramolecular assembly, which can be synergistically activated by the conformational regulation with bis(4,8-disulfonato-1,5-naphtho)-32-crown-8 and then reversibly switched by the through-space communication between restricted stilbazolium salt and photochromic dithienylethene. This work demonstrates that the synergistic conformational modulation via intra- and intermolecular interactions can be developed as a generalizable approach to construct more advanced biomimetic nanomaterials. A supramolecular photoswitch with tunable photoluminescence properties is described. The fluorescence emission of such binary assembly can be activated upon complexation of stilbazolium salt with crown ether and sequentially, the energy transfer process can be regulated by the photochromic interconversion of dithienylethene [Display omitted]