Shaping bioinspired photo-responsive microstructures by the light-driven modulation of selective interactions

Abstract

A set of thymine-functionalized chromophores such as tetraphenylporphyrin, azobenzene and carbon quantum dots were synthesized and studied in terms of their self-recognition abilities to generate ordered nano-architectures. Additionally, fully adenine-capped, water soluble, gold nanoparticles were synthesized and properly characterized. In particular, we observed a strong self-recognition between thymine–thymine systems, the fully functionalized adenine-capped nanoparticles act as a “breaking” molecular binder thus to allow complementary recognition with the thymine-functionalized chromophores and the consequent molecular reorganization. It was found that adenine–thymine binding, occurring between these complementary self-organized complex systems, allowed the formation of precisely assembled nano-systems that depend powerfully on their morphologies from the nature of the chromophores utilized. These well-organized supramolecular architectures are able to undergo morphologically self-shaping processes under illumination by visible light, through the activation of the plasmon resonance of gold nanoparticles, which are affected selectively and precisely rearranged by the binding modes of the self-assembled microstructures at the nanoscale level. Finally, these studies were extended to selective molecular recognition at the surface, confirming the high binding affinity of these complex systems even at this level.