Self-assembly of photochromic diarylethene-peptide conjugates stabilized by β-sheet formation at the liquid/graphite interface

Peptide-Based Low Molecular Weight Photosensitive Supramolecular Gelators

Over the last couple of decades, stimuli-responsive supramolecular gels comprising synthetic short peptides as building blocks have been explored for various biological and material applications. Though a wide range of stimuli has been tested depending on the structure of the peptides, light as a stimulus has attracted extensive attention due to its non-invasive, non-contaminant, and remotely controllable nature, precise spatial and temporal resolution, and wavelength tunability. The integration of molecular photo-switch and low-molecular-weight synthetic peptides may thus provide access to supramolecular self-assembled systems, notably supramolecular gels, which may be used to create dynamic, light-responsive "smart" materials with a variety of structures and functions. This short review summarizes the recent advancement in the area of light-sensitive peptide gelation. At first, a glimpse of commonly used molecular photo-switches is given, followed by a detailed description of their incorporation into peptide sequences to design light-responsive peptide gels and the mechanism of their action. Finally, the challenges and future perspectives for developing next-generation photo-responsive gels and materials are outlined.

Future-Oriented Advanced Diarylethene Photoswitches: From Molecular Design to Spontaneous Assembly Systems

Diarylethene (DAE) photoswitch is a new and promising family of photochromic molecules and has shown superior performance as a smart trigger in stimulus-responsive materials. During the past few decades, the DAE family has achieved a leap from simple molecules to functional molecules and developed toward validity as a universal switching building block. In recent years, the introduction of DAE into an assembly system has been an attractive strategy that enables the photochromic behavior of the building blocks to be manifested at the level of the entire system, beyond the DAE unit itself. This assembly-based strategy will bring many unexpected results that promote the design and manufacture of a new generation of advanced materials. Here, recent advances in the design and fabrication of diarylethene as a trigger in materials science, chemistry, and biomedicine are reviewed.