Abstract:
Supramolecular materials have attracted considerable attentions owing to the potential applications in the fields of optics, biology, medicine, etc. Supramolecular polymers are constructed from monomer components, small supramolecular systems, or polymers that are repeatedly linked by non-covalent interactions. Since the non-covalent bond interaction is reversible, the conformation and properties of the supramolecular polymer can be regulated by external stimuli, such as pH changes, light stimulation, temperature changes and so on. Among various non-covalent interactions, the host-guest interaction, involving a variety of non-covalent bonds, is one of the most popular strategy to construct host-guest supramolecular polymers. Crown ether, cyclodextrin (CD), calixarene, pillararene and cucurbituril (CB) are typical hosts, while the guest molecules are generally organic compounds that can enter the bulky cavity of the host molecules. Notably, when a photo-responsive group is introduced into the supramolecular polymer system via these non-covalent bonds, a photo-responsive host-guest supramolecular polymer can be obtained. Such polymers have important applications in the fields of self-healing systems, aggregation-induced luminescence, and light-controlled assembly. In this review, we summarize the recent development of photo-responsive supramolecular polymers based on the aforementioned host molecules, and give a brief prospect in the end.