Photoresponsive catanionic vesicles have been developed as a novel gene delivery vector combining enhanced cellular uptake with phototriggered release of vesicle payload following entry into cells. Vesicles with diameters ranging from 50 to 200 nm [measured using cryo-transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and light-scattering techniques] form spontaneously, following mixing of positively charg...

Large substituents are commonly seen as entirely repulsive through steric hindrance. Such groups have additional attractive effects arising from weak London dispersion forces between the neutral atoms. Steric interactions are recognized to have a strong influence on isomerization processes, such as in azobenzene-based molecular switches. Textbooks indicate that steric hindrance destabilizes the...

A new azobenzene-based chromophore was synthesized to create one-dimensional (1D) nanofibers with aggregation-induced emission enhancement characteristics. The enhanced red fluorescence of the fibrous structures can be switched off via mechanical pressure, friction, or heat by pressing, rubbing, or annealing.

(E)-Azobenzene is introduced as a suitable chemical actinometer in the visible spectral range (440–540 nm) for photon flux determination of fluidic microphotoreactors or assessing efficiency light photo-induced reactions, its evaluation straightforward without tedious analytics. Photoisomerization quantum yields (ΦE→Z) (E)-azobenzene were accurately determined upon irradiation at several wavele...

A series of new π-conjugated macrocycles (AzoM-n-E, n = 1–3) incorporating azobenzene units have been synthesized by a facile strategy in one-pot reaction. The resultant azobenzene-embedded feature intrinsic photoresponsive behaviors and intriguing supramolecular assembling properties. smallest macrocycle AzoM-1-E with rigid planar conjugated backbone structure is used to prepare the single cry...

Azobenzene is a photo-isomerizing molecule whose end-to-end distance changes upon external illumination. When combined with site-specific reactive groups, it can be used as molecular tweezers to remote-control the structure and function of protein targets. The present study gives a brief overview over the rational design strategies that use an azobenzene-based photoswitchable cross-linker to en...

Azobenzene and its derivatives can undergo reversible trans-cis isomerizations when irradiated with light, making them potential candidates for optically sensitive materials and devices. The adsorption and diffusion of azobenzene on the Cu(110) surface was investigated with a variable-temperature scanning tunneling microscope. The trans-isomer was observed and found to occupy two adsorption geo...

The alpha-helix is a key structural element in a wide range of peptides and proteins. We report here the design, synthesis, and characterization of a modified peptide in which the helix content can be reversibly photoregulated. The peptide contains two cysteine residues that are cross-linked by an azobenzene derivative in an intramolecular fashion. In accordance with the design, the photoisomer...