1 research outputs found
Allosteric Self-Assembly of Coordinating Terthiophene Amphiphile for Triggered Light Harvesting
Allosteric
regulation is extensively employed by nature to achieve functional
control of protein or deoxyribonucleic acid through triggered conformational
change at a remote site. We report that a similar strategy can be
utilized in artificial self-assembly to control the self-assembled
structure and its function. We show that on binding of metal ions
to the headgroup of an amphiphile TTC4L, the conformational change
may lead to change of the dipole orientation of the energy donor at
the chain end. This on the one hand leads to a drastically different
self-assembled structure; on the other hand, it enables light harvesting
between the donor–acceptor. Because the Forster resonance fluorescence
transfer efficiency is gated by metal ions, controlling the feeding
of metal ions allows switching on and off of light harvesting. We
expect that using allosteric self-assembly, we will be able to create
abundant structures with distinct function from limited molecules,
which show prominent potential for the postorganic modification of
the structure and function of self-assembled materials