Small Molecular π-Systems Derived Photoresponsive Supramolecular Materials

Small molecular π-systems are excellent building blocks for the construction of photoresponsive supramolecular materials, yielding a wide range of structures and functions relevant to smart materials and optoelectronic devices. Integration of photoresponsive units into molecular π-systems is meant to address key challenges in developing responsive and adaptive soft functional materials that dynamically respond to light. Since π-systems are optically and electronically active molecules, and light being the most precise stimulus, their combination to design photoresponsive dynamic supramolecular systems is one of the preferred choices in the emerging domain of smart materials, particularly in the field of photonics and nanoarchitectonics. Though a large number of photoresponsive systems have been reported, this review is mainly focused on supramolecular π-systems that exclusively operate on the chemical principles of photoisomerization and photocyclization reactions, and discusses the strategies and directions that govern their design and applications at the nano and microscale.