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Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Examining BCL-2 Family Function with Large Unilamellar Vesicles
Published on: October 5, 2012
Solution and solid state photochromism in a family of shape persistent azobenzene tetramers functionalized with
Jacopo Vialetto1, Jessica Groppi2, Marcello La Rosa3
1Dipartimento di Chimica "G. Ciamician", Università di Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
Abstract:
Shape-persistent azobenzene tetramers functionalized at the periphery with alkyloxy substituents of different lengths have been synthesized and their photochemical behaviour has been investigated. Efficient E→Z photoisomerization of the azobenzene units takes place both in solution and in the solid state, a highly desirable yet uncommon property for azobenzene-type photochromic compounds. The solid state E→Z photoisomerization is accompanied by an isothermal crystal-amorphous phase transformation; successively, anisotropic crystals can be grown upon promoting the Z→E isomerization by thermal annealing of the irradiated samples. These results validate the strategy of engineering multiphotochromic architectures with a rigid star-shaped geometry to preserve the solution-based photoreactivity also in the solid state. The observed unexpected photoinduced alignment makes these materials potentially attractive for the development of photo-patternable and photo-responsive surfaces.
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