Chiral supramolecular assemblies are abundant in nature, but controlling the chirality of artificial systems still remains a challenge. In this work, we developed a system where supramolecular chirality can be controlled between chiral and achiral states, namely a chiral “1/0” switch using a flower‐like azobenzene compound with a binaphthol core. Upon photoisomerization by ultraviolet irradiation, the terminal alkyl tails envelop the chiral “centre” with a reduction in the dihedral angle of the binaphthol moiety from 76.1° to 61.4°, like “closing petals”. In the doped liquid crystal E7 matrix, this hierarchical conformational transition prevents the transfer of chirality to the host liquid crystal, resulting in a degradation from cholesteric phase (HTP value: 13.84 μm⁻¹) to an achiral nematic phase.

中文翻译：

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通过具有Binaphthol核心和烷基官能化的偶氮苯侧​​链的类似花的化合物的分级光异构化，可切换二元超分子手性“ 1/0”。

手性超分子组装体性质丰富，但是控制人工系统的手性仍然是一个挑战。在这项工作中，我们开发了一种系统，可以在手性和非手性状态之间控制超分子手性，即使用具有联萘酚核心的花状偶氮苯化合物进行手性“ 1/0”转换。在通过紫外线照射进行光致异构化后，末端烷基尾部将手性“中心”包裹起来，使联萘酚部分的二面角从76.1°减小到61.4°，就像“闭合的花瓣”一样。在掺杂的液晶E7基质中，该分层的构象转变阻止了手性向主体液晶的转移，导致从胆甾相（HTP值：13.84μm ^-1）降解为非手性向列相。