Photocontrollable Supramolecular Self‐Assembly of a Porphyrin Derivative that Contains a Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane (POSS)

In the study, we synthesized a novel photosensitive organic/inorganic POSS-containing hybrid porphyrin derivative (H2TPP-Azo-POSS) via click chemistry, where azobenzene was used as a bridge to conjugate porphyrin and POSS. The self-assembly behavior of H2TPP-Azo-POSS was studied in chloroform at different concentrations and in mixture solvents of chloroform and n-hexane, respectively. The results showed the self-assembled morphologies of H2TPP-Azo-POSS could be tuned by varying the concentration and polarity of solvent. Spherical micelles and linear nanowires could be obtained in chloroform via changing concentration. Vesicles could be formed in the mixture solvent of chloroform and n-hexane with a low polarity. The supramolecular self-assembled morphologies of H2TPP-Azo-POSS demonstrated a light-triggered transition behavior, and the size of the assembled aggregates was significantly decreased under UV light irradiation.