UV light-triggered trans-to-cis isomerization of azobenzene usually results in the collapse of a self-assembly system owing to the breaking of molecular planarity. Interestingly, two totally opposite self-assembly trends have been detected when a C_2v-symmetric chiral gelator was irradiated by a circularly polarized light (CPL) with specific handedness, indicating that CPL could become a powerful tool in modulating the assembly behaviour of the photo-responsive system. 

Circularly polarized light modulated supramolecular self-assembly 

for an azobenzenebased chiral gel.

 Kenan Shao, Ziyu Lv, Yuting Xiong, Guodong Li, Dongdong Wang, Haining Zhang and Guangyan Qing*

RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 10360-10363

DOI: 10.1039/c9ra01974j