Photoswitchable Quadruple Hydrogen-Bonding Motif

J Am Chem Soc. 2024 Jan 10;146(1):45-50. doi: 10.1021/jacs.3c10401. Epub 2023 Nov 30.

Abstract

Multiple hydrogen-bonding motifs serve as important building blocks for molecular recognition and self-assembly. Herein, a photoswitchable quadruple hydrogen-bonding motif featuring near-complete, reversible, and thermostable conversion between DADA and AADD arrays associated with an alteration of their dimerization constants by over 3 orders of magnitude is reported. The system is based on a diarylethene featuring a ureidopyrimidin-4-ol moiety, which upon photoinduced ring closure and associated loss of aromaticity undergoes enol-keto tautomerization to a ureidopyrimidinone moiety. The latter causes a transformation of the hydrogen-bonding arrays and significantly weakens the free energy of dimerization in the case of the closed isomer. This photoswitchable quadruple hydrogen-bonding motif should allow us to spatially and temporarily direct self-assembly and supramolecular polymerization processes by light.