Recent Advances of Photoresponsive Supramolecular Switches

Abstract Photoresponsive supramolecular switches refer to these host‐guest systems that can be reversibly shifted between different states by light stimuli. Such photoswitchable systems feature the presence of non‐covalent bonding interactions with light‐responsive moieties (e. g., azobenzene and stilbene, spiropyran and diarylethene, coumarin and anthracene), and have been applied in a variety of fields, such as drug delivery, tissue engineering and smart materials with the advantage of being able to operate cleanly and remotely in a spatiotemporally‐controlled fashion. Alternating UV/visible light irradiation can reversibly regulate the binding affinity or assembly/disassembly of the systems. This minireview summarizes recent progress (2016 and after) on the development of photoswitchable host‐guest systems, including the structural designs of these molecular switches and their applications in solution and solid states. Better knowledge of them is essential for the understanding of host‐guest phenomena, molecular machines, and also for the preparation of novel applied materials in the future.