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Published on: October 31, 2019
Isothermal Chirality Switching in Liquid-Crystalline Azobenzene Compounds with Non-Polarized Light
Mohamed Alaasar1,2, Silvio Poppe1, Qingshu Dong3
1Institute of Chemistry, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Kurt-Mothes Str. 2, 06120, Halle/Saale, Germany.
Abstract:
Spontaneous mirror-symmetry breaking is a fundamental process for development of chirality in natural and in artificial self-assembled systems. A series of triple chain azobenzene based rod-like compounds is investigated that show mirror-symmetry breaking in an isotropic liquid occurring adjacent to a lamellar LC phase. The transition between the lamellar phase and the symmetry-broken liquid is affected by trans-cis photoisomerization, which allows a fast and reversible photoinduced switching between chiral and achiral states with non-polarized light.
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